


The Stranger

by thegirlthatdoesnotofficiallyexist



Category: Sanders Sides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-06 19:11:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 34,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13417794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlthatdoesnotofficiallyexist/pseuds/thegirlthatdoesnotofficiallyexist
Summary: Everything is going pretty well...until a stranger shows up in Thomas' head and turns everything upside down.





	1. Something

Virgil hunched down in his familiar spot on the stairs, retreating into the relative warmth and safety of his purple hoodie. The other sides were talking amiably about…something. Virgil had long since clocked out of whatever they were discussing with Thomas.

Though he was trying with all his might to appear invisible, Virgil found it impossible to keep still. His fingers drummed against his folded arms, and he rocked back and forth slightly. He absent-mindedly chewed the inside of his cheek, and his hands were shaking.

Virgil felt bad. And what was worse… he didn’t know why.

After all the sappy excruciating ‘touchy-feely’ progress the group had made in regards to accepting him, he felt even worse when he was concerned for no real reason.

Without realising it, he let out a small groan.

“Thank You Virgil! See Roman, Virgil think’s you’re being ridiculous too.” Logan said smugly, folding his arms with flair. Roman huffed.

“Well of course Captain SOOK over here thinks that, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it! If anything, it means that the challenge is meaningful and victory will be even SWEETER having overcome the fear!” Roman grinned at Virgil, not unkindly – it was his way of both overriding Virgil’s input, as well as admitting it was valid criticism.

Virgil gulped, having no idea what they were talking about.

“Errr…sorry Princy, I zoned out a bit there. What were you blabbering about?” He tried for an air of nonchalance, but there was an edge to his voice that Patton couldn’t miss.

“Now kiddo, is there anything you want to talk about?” He said, cutting over Roman’s indignant sound of offence. Thomas was frowning.

“I can feel that something’s off dude, what’s up?”

Logan and Roman looked at Virgil with expectation, which made the latter recoil more and let out a low hiss.

“It’s nothing…”

“Come on Little Drummer Boy – “

“How on earth could that be a nickname that applies to Virgil?” Logan asked, adjusting his glasses in distain. If Roman was going to insist on being childish then fine, but he should at least strive for some semblance of sense.

Roman clucked his tongue and put one hand on his hip, using the other to gesture to Virgil. “He’s been drumming his fingers non-stop for the last fifteen minutes. Didn’t want to say anything – err, you do you Virgil – but my point is that it’s an apt nickname!”  

“We’re getting a little off topic you two.” Thomas warned, as Logan opened his mouth to retort back. Thomas had felt a sickening swoop of anxiety himself just then – and he was sure it was due to Virgil’s embarrassment that his tapping had been so obvious. “What’s up Virge?”

“I…” Virgil sighed, fiddling with his hoodie sleeve ends and refusing to meet the others’ eyes.

“Now Virgil, it’s okay to talk about your feelings, this is a very accepting environment.” Patton’s eyes sparkled, making Virgil feel even worse.

“I don’t know.” Virgil finally managed. “Something is…just not right.”

“Something?” Logan prompted gently. Virgil pursed his lips.

“See? I don’t want to do this…”

“Wait just a jiffy there, kiddo, I’m sure Logan didn’t mean it like that.” Patton said firmly, looking threatening at Logan.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I don’t know what’s wrong…I mean we are on top of everything…there’s nothing too pressing…” He sighed frustradedly, and pretended to miss the worried looks the other four passed between them. He had been feeling on edge all week, and though he had tried to work through it, sometimes there wasn’t much he could do.

“Is it…because we’re on top of things?” Thomas asked. Virgil looked up with a frown. “I mean are you nervous because we aren’t as busy this week? We’ve had legitimate downtime…are you feeling guilty or a bit…” He struggled to find the words and looked to Logan for help.

“That’s a possibility. When a person is ahead or on stable ground – if you will – they sometimes experience a sensation of stagnation. They are used to being up against the grind and the absence of struggle can lead to speculation of what they could be doing more, or what they are doing wrong.” Logan pondered.

“What, so he gets anxious when we are doing good now? Fantastic…” muttered Roman. He quailed under a particularly severe Patton-glare.

“It’s not that.” Virgil said firmly, also shooting a dirty look to the Prince. “Just…something doesn’t feel right, like something is coming. It’s stupid and I didn’t want to say anything until I knew what.”

“Well…” Thomas scratched his chin. “I guess we will just all have to be vigilant, and be honest with each other if we see a threat that might be the cause of Virgil’s unrest.” He smiled kindly at Virgil, who relaxed a little. His mouth parted slightly in surprise and his eyes opened wide.

_They didn’t hate him._

_They were taking his concerns onboard._

Thomas smiled reassuringly at Virgil, relieved that he seemed to finally be getting quite good with his little worry wart.

By all means, the feeling of foreboding didn’t fade. But Virgil felt that at least he wasn’t being discredited for it – even if it did turn out to be nothing. He gave his small half smile that made Patton practically squeal.

“Hey…would everyone like to have some fun? We could all go down to the dreamscape and act out my latest fantasy I got brewing?” Roman asked, gazing at Virgil with hope and concern in his eyes.

Virgil hesitated, looking to Thomas to gauge his reaction.

“I promise to keep vigilant, and I’m staying home for the rest of the night, so you don’t have to worry about anything too strenuous tonight.” Thomas was already grabbing his TV remote.

“Might take your mind of things for a short time, Virgil.” Patton said gently.

“Though it would not be my first choice or activity…it would not grace my top one hundred, matter of fact, but if it helps Virgil then I will participate.” Logan sniffed, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

“Well…” Virgil searched his mind for an excuse, but got to thinking instead. “Actually…being anything else but me really sounds fantastic right now…”

“Talk bad about yourself like that Virgil and I will have no choice but to kick your bodacious behind!” Patton fumed suddenly, causing the others to give him a surprised look.

“So, you’re in?” Roman could hardly believe his ears.

“Sure, as long as I’m not the bad guy.” Virgil folded his arms and sank down into the mindscape.

Roman hurriedly pulled a script out from his inside jacket pocket and began scratching out a whole lot of stuff.

“Go stall him…I have to recast!” He said to Patton and Logan, franticly. He would not chance that Virgil would change his mind – he never wanted to play make-believe in the dreamscape!

Thomas just smiled to himself at how far Roman had come, and began to watch some TV. He felt Virgil’s foreboding feeling…but now was not the time for such matters.

As Roman sank down and Thomas made himself comfortable…there was a twinge in the back of his head.

Somewhere, deep in the dreamscape, something stirred.


	2. Dress Ups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman preps for the make believe session.

All four stood in the dreamscape and Virgil shivered slightly. Before they began influencing it…the dreamscape was just a void of white light. It always stressed him out, like the blank page was taunting him and his lack of creativity. He hugged himself tightly and focussed on the feel of his hoodie beneath his fingers.

“ _I’ll_ be the hero…I mean that much is obvious-” Roman flamboyantly laid a hand on his chest to make sure that people absolutely knew who the hero would be. “-Virgil here will be my side-kick!” Roman clicked his fingers and both the sides’ costumes changed. Roman now was wearing a full suit of armor that was oddly shaped to his body and looked to be made of pure silver. He stopped short of a helmet, and opted for a large golden crown instead. It looked light as a feather and Logan had to swallow his instinct to point out just how unrealistic the Prince’s outfit was.

Virgil was wearing what looked like a knock-off Robin outfit but with a purple/blue/black colour scheme. He was wearing dark purple tights with what looked like black underwear over the top. He had a blue vest on his torso with the letter “V” emblazoned in an ornate logo over his heart. At his shoulders, a purple half-cape flowed. The look was completed with a black eye-mask.

Virgil felt heat rise in his cheeks as he heard the barely-contained exclamation of joy from Patton, and noticed that even Logan was trying to contain his smile. Roman was looking at him hopefully.

“So…isn’t the mask a little redundant?” Virgil asked, still trying to come to grips with his costume.

“Not at all!” Roman squealed. “Tap it!” He was feeling very proud of himself.

Virgil shrugged and did so – only to look at his hands. They suddenly weren’t there.

“Your super-power is invisibility!” Roman explained, a tremor of nervousness creeping into his voice.

Virgil nodded slightly, then tapped the mask again and gave the others a tight smile.

“That actually sounds like a power I would really like to have.”

“Yay!!! Do me next!” Patton finally burst, practically running on the spot.

Roman joined in the Fathers’ dance.

“Okay, okay! Logan, you are the villain today…”

“So - my job is to rain on your imaginary parade and try to put an end to this tom-foolery?” Logan pretended to think for a moment. “That sounds acceptable.”

“EXCELLENT!” Roman threw his arms into the air, snapping his fingers again. Logan’s outfit changed from his usual office-like attire to a costume of a tastefully tailored black suit and tie. The look was completed with a truly dramatic black cloak.

“Though the cape is excessive, the suit is quite tasteful.” Logan tried not to look too smug at the rush of superiority that wearing the suit and cape gave him.

“So why can he dress in black, but I have to be bathed in colour?” Virgil clicked his tongue and tugged awkwardly at the hem of his cape.

“Because he’s the bad-guy Virgil, keep up!” Roman then winced and quickly clapped Virgil on the back. “Not that wearing black means that you are always necessarily-”

“Save it Princey.” Virgil chuckled, shrugging off Roman’s concern. Roman visibly relaxed.

“WHO AM I ROMAN? WHO AM I?” Patton bounced around.

“A giant pain in the-” Logan began, getting cut off by an excited Roman.

“YOU ARE LOGAN’S EVIL SIDE-KICK!” with one last snap, Patton’s outfit changed into the Snee’s outfit from the animated Peter Pan movie, down to the red beanie. Perfectly matching his colour scheme.

“AHHHHH!” Patton’s face was a picture of pure childish joy.

“Okay Roman, we are all dressed up. What happens next?”

Roman grinned and even Virgil found it hard not to be lifted by his exuberant enthusiasm.

“I was thinking going for a classic forest? I’ll create the setting and give you two a head start to enact your evil plan! Pretty much you think it, it can happen! Within reason though, you can’t cheat!”

As Roman began to talk, the void around him started taking shape: trees, grass, birds, and colours seemed to just bleed from the Prince and leak into every direction, like some lava flow of life.

Logan grabbed Patton’s arm and they ran, while Virgil moodily picked at his cape again.

After around five minutes, Roman struck his best ‘hero pose’.

“Shall we venture forth, my fair lady?”

“Anything to get this over with, Roman.”

“AHEM.”

“… _Prince_ Roman.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I've had renting dramas and I also accidentally dyed my hair GINGER instead of LIGHT BLONDE so yeah it's been an interesting week hahaha


	3. Pink Princess

“Is that…Eye of the Tiger?” Virgil frowned, trying to listen to the dim thrum of music. He couldn’t pinpoint its origin – it just seemed to be hanging in the air.

 “Every great adventure has background music, my Dark Knight!” Roman laughed, pushing through the undergrowth.

 Roman had created far more than a forest – it was more of a jungle. Vines and thick tangled vegetation made it so Virgil could hardly see the sky. The feeling of claustrophobia was there in spades, but it did help slightly to know it was just imaginary.

 “So…we just knock about until we find out what their plan is?” Virgil asked, wishing his outfit had pockets.

 “It shouldn’t take too long. I’m sure Logan has been wanting an opportunity to try and best me since the dawn of time!”

Virgil muttered something about a rap battle, but Roman ignored him.

~

 Logan had found a suitable base in the form of a Rapunzel-esque tower, situated just outside of a large, walled off community. As for the evil plan…

 The entire village was _studying._

 It was not exactly Logan’s idea of evil, but Patton had been appalled at the idea so that was good enough for him. Plus, it made him slightly lean more into the villain role: believing he was in the right and being reasonable.

 Roman had surprised him however.

 “Typical. He can’t even relinquish complete control when the whole point of this exercise is for him to fight against a tangible threat.” Logan paced in a circular motion around the circumference of the room at the top of the tower. It was fairly bare – just a desk and a trap door that led to lower floors. Two open windows were set into the brick walls opposite to each other, one opening out above the wall and with a view to the village down below. The other looked out onto the forest.

 “Mam would you like some cookies?” Patton bounced. Logan sighed – Patton was quite possibly the worst evil side kick ever.

 “We do not offer the prisoner cookies, Patton.” Logan clucked his tongue, coming to a halt in front of their guest in the centre of the room.

 The woman had been in the tower, tied to a chair, with a note attached that said “ _here”_ in silly cursive writing. She was gagged, and wore a bright pink gown with a cream corset. Her caramel hair was shoulder length and she looked _mad._

 “What’s taking them so long?” Logan complained, checking his watch. He had agreed to the frivolous activity, but it was seriously cutting into his Saturday schedule.

 “Well geez Logan! If you’re bored, we could…”

 “I’m not going to ungag her. She is obviously part of Roman’s plan and I will not be defeated so easily.”

 Patton pouted and went to put the cookies on the desk, but Logan caught him.

 “Fine…er, you can give them to the villagers if they complete the test.” Making them like studying over other things would still be a victory over Roman, he supposed. And positive reinforcement is as good a tactic as any, right?

 As Patton put the cookies down with renewed enthusiasm, an alarm went off and they heard a very distinctive voice curse from outside.

 “Here we go!” Logan rubbed his hands together and walked to the window facing the forest.

 “Stop your evil plan, villain!” Roman stood below with his sword raised in the air. Virgil was no where in sight, but Logan suspected the dark trait had opted for invisibility.

 “Tell me, has that strategy ever succeeded before?” Logan smirked, eliciting a chuckle from Virgil from… wherever he was.

 “We have had reports of torture from your regime-”

 “HI GUYS!” Patton shoved Logan aside, waving profusely. “I MADE A NEW FRIEND!”

  Logan flushed as Roman giggled, pushing Patton out of their view.

 “You DARE challenge me? I am IMPROVING these people!” Logan yelled, narrowing his eyes.

 “Against their will? That is not IMPROVING THEM? That is…BAD!” Roman braced himself.

 “MAYBE YOU SHOULD SIGN UP FOR ONE OF MY VOCABULARY CLASSES!”

 Roman roared in response to this latest slight and began to charge. Logan lazily flicked his wrist, and suddenly Roman crumpled.

 “What – WHAT THE HELL?”

 “I simply made your outfit weigh what IT LOGICALLY SHOULD IN THE REAL WORLD!”

 The two continued bickering, as Virgil scaled the wall behind the tower, and slipped into the village.


	4. Play Time's Over

Chapter Four: Play Time’s Over

 Virgil managed to slip into the tower unseen. He had closed his eyes while passing the studious villagers, preferring not to remember how bad it had occasionally got when Thomas had been studying.

 Scaling the spiral staircase within the tower, Virgil had to grudgingly admire the detail Roman had put into the environment. The bricks were almost all a different shade of beige, and looked worn and torn. There was dust that rose in clouds with his every step.

 He could hear noises above him, but as he climbed through the (thankfully) open trapdoor, he saw more than he had bargained for.

 Logan at the window, taunting Roman down below – that was expected. But Patton in the middle of the room, talking amiably to a gagged, restrained…Princess? THAT was a surprise. He didn’t actually think Logan would play into the game so hard, and kidnapping was a bit more intense than forcibly teaching, even if it was all imaginary.

 He took a step into the room and . . .

 Alarms.

 Virgil jumped out of his skin as the loud noise blared, almost sending him backwards into the trapdoor. At his gasp, Patton threw a white sheet over him, then hugged him hard: restraining him as he lashed out.

 Logan laughed, looking down at a very frustrated Roman as he realised his partner had been caught.

 “NOW YOU MUST RESCUE TWO OF YOUR FRIENDS!”

 Roman threw aside his sword in frustration. His outfit had changed back to his usual royal attire, since Logan’s major offence was logic.

 “SERIOUSLY LOGAN? YOU COULDN’T WORK WITH PATTON FOR HALF AN HOUR? HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR SIDE KICK!”

 Logan blinked, his confusion obvious.

 “What? Patton is here? You saw him before…I know I politely shoved him out of view, but I have not abandoned him as a partner?”

 “Did you kidnap a villager? What, as motivation for the others? YOU FEIND?”

 Logan clucked his tongue. “Whatever Roman, you have lost. I do not have time for your games or you playing-dumb any longer. GIVE UP! Or I will kill the damsel!”

 Virgil stiffened, now free of the sheet and his invisibility mask, and now confined to a chair next to the princess. She was crying and shaking in her binds. It looked like she was having a panic attack…Virgil felt like he was going to be sick.

 “Of course, he would NEVER threaten you Virgil, Logan has only made the threat because the girl is imaginary, and he wants this game to be over with.” Patton laughed, clapping the anxious side on the back, though eyeing the girl a little guiltily. “I’m sure he would never even do that-”

 “PATTON! BRING THE DAMSEL TO THE WINDOW!” Logan cried, Roman having refused to back down – thinking that Logan was playing mind games with him.

 Patton gaped, and faltered. “You’re not seriously-”

 “Relax Patton, this is fiction. In any case, Roman would never let me actually go through with it. I just really want this game to be over and this is the quickest way to end it.”

 “Or you could just surrender.” Virgil said through gritted teeth. He was sweating now, practically swooning at the waves of panic he could feel rolling off the girl. This couldn’t be good for Thomas…

 “Er…sorry Mam…” Patton faltered, only just realising the girl was nearly hysterical. What he could see of her face was blotchy red, and her eyes looked terrified. “Umm…Logan? I don’t think I want to be a bad guy anymore…”

 “Oh, FOR GOD’S -” Logan swung around but faltered as well at the rather pitiful sight before him. “Jesus…why did Roman have to make this so realistic? This cannot be his idea of fun…” For the first time, he sounded unsure. The three sides stared at the crying girl, all wishing for the game to be over. They were only snapped out of their stupor as Roman climbed into the window.

 “STOP! Unhand the damsel and my Squire!” He pointed his sword at Logan, who had swung back around, looking grumpy.

 “Squire? I thought I was your Sidekick?” Virgil complained.

 “Not now Dude, I am about to win this thing -” Roman now paused too, looking at the captured Damsel. “Jesus Logan, you really took to your part, didn’t you?”

 “This is YOUR fault! I just wanted to make them study, but NOOOO, you couldn’t just let me do my part, and YOU call ME the control freak!” Logan huffed, folding his arms.

 Roman looked taken aback. “I…I didn’t do this? Ask Virgil, I just created the village and the tower, but I didn’t put someone in it.”

 The sides drew in almost a collective breath, and all turned to the (now hyperventilating) girl. Patton slowly moved forward, and slipped the gag off with trembling hands.

 She gasped and shook, and Patton pulled away quickly, holding his arms up to show that he meant no harm.

 The girl sobbed and flinched at the confused and wary stares that were laid on her.

 “Err…so you didn’t create her?” Logan asked hesitantly. Roman just shook his head, now pointing the sword instead at the stranger.

 “There is one way to find out for sure.” Roman said lightly, very aware that both Patton and Virgil were starting to panic. Roman clicked his fingers, and at once the dreamscape melted once more into white light, leaving them standing in their usual attire…

 Still staring at a crying woman in a princess dress.


	5. Confrontations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They talk to the stranger.

Chapter Five: Confrontations

 Virgil swore, and it was a credit to the severity of the situation that Patton didn’t even flinch. Logan looked gobsmacked, as if the rug had been pulled out from underneath him.

 “I…I’m so sorry…I…” Logan stammered, realising that whatever he had been threatening death and torture with was much more than imagination. He took a step forward.

 The woman flinched and scrambled back, looking around wildly at the white landscape.

 “Stay away from me! Where am I? Who are you? I don’t…I don’t…” She started breathing erratically, which made Virgil snap into action.

 “Get us out of here Roman.” He said sharply. “She’s having a panic attack and this space isn’t helping.”

 Roman still looked shocked, but closed his mouth and gave a tight nod. He clicked his fingers and suddenly the five of them were in the living room of the mindscape.

 The woman screamed, and really started panicking. Logan backed away slowly, looking very upset, but Virgil and Patton approached and started coaxing her with breathing exercises.

 “Shhhh…you’re okay kiddo. You are safe here, we aren’t going to hurt you.”

 “In for 4…hold for 7…out for 8…”

 Logan and Roman just sat down on the couch, facing the scene, still in shock.

 “Is she…?” Roman started, but found he didn’t know the end of the sentence. Logan just swallowed hard and shook his head which had developed a sharp migraine.

 They stayed like that until the girl had calmed down enough to be moved to an armchair, her face still soaked in tears. She was still in her princess outfit, which made her look even more out of place in the plain living room space.

 “What do you want with me?” She eventually managed, with a hiccup.

 “Nothing, dear.” Patton answered in surprise.

 “Why did you…where am I?” The woman was very tense. Virgil was tapping his hands, now hunched down in his regular spot on the stairs. His hoodie was up, and he was trying to keep calm himself. Patton was kneeing next to her, eyes filled with concern.

 “You are in the living room of the mind palace.” Patton said cautiously. No one else seemed like they had access to their voices.

 “Look, if you’re after money…I don’t have much, but if you let me go…”

 Even Patton lost his voice after this, looking around hopelessly at the others. Logan cleared his throat.

 “What do you represent?” Logan offered, trying to ignore how hard the woman flinched at his voice.

 “Represent? I’m not affiliated with anyone…if that’s what you’re after.” She started shaking again as her panic rose. “Honestly, I’m no one. Please, just let me go. I won’t even tell the police, I don’t want any trouble.”

 “Police?” Roman asked, clearly floored. “What are you?”

 The woman looked completely lost now, and her bottom lip quivered as she looked around.

 “Either she is a facet of Thomas that has seemed to have warped or gained illusions of reality…” Logan began.

 “…Or, she is a real person.” Virgil interjected darkly.

 “Is that…possible?” Patton asked nervously.

 “Of course, I’m bloody real…” The girl answered with wide eyes. “Is this a dream? Surely this is a dream. This had got to be a dream…”

 “Shhh, breath.” Patton soothed.

 “Are you guys…crazy or something? I promise to not tell anyone…” She looked around desperately.

 “What is your name?” Roman asked softly. The woman opened her mouth but didn’t answer.

 “We are not going to hurt you.” Patton said firmly. “We are just as confused as you are.”

 She nodded, looking unconvinced.

 “Can I…leave?”

 Virgil narrowed his eyes. “Go for it.”

 She got up hesitantly, and slowly edged around the room to where the front door was, clearly keeping all four sides in her line of vision. She opened the door shakily with her back to it, and backed out of the living room.

 She slammed the door, and Virgil started counting down from five on his fingers. The others sat in silence until…

 The woman opened the door again, clearly in the grip of another panic attack. The void beyond the little front garden that Roman had built for Patton made the image of a terrified princess even more surreal.

 “Where am I?” She said breathlessly, holding onto the doorframe for support. Her breaths were jagged, and Virgil leapt up hesitantly to help her once more. She allowed herself to be guided back to her armchair as Virgil helped her steady her breathing.

 Logan looked like he wanted to explode…whatever was happening was way out of his league and he _hated it._

 It took a while for the stranger to calm down enough to be given an explanation about her whereabouts.

 “So…either I’m dreaming…I’m crazy…I’m both…or you’re crazy?” she surmised nervously. Her head felt so full it hurt. It didn’t help that her successive attacks had left her beyond exhausted.

 “You left out the possibility that we are telling the truth.” Logan added dryly, his own headache throbbing behind his furrowed forehead.

 “Where…should you be?” Roman asked cautiously.

 The woman squinted, trying to remember. “I think I was…I think I was on my way home to Gisborne from Wellington?”

 Logan looked up, recognising one of those places. The clear accent matched up, but it only made the whole thing more confusing.

 “New Zealand? You’re from New Zealand?”

 “Yeah…”

 “Ooohh I’ve always wanted to go there!” Patton clapped his hands together.

 “Wait…where is this?”

 Logan looked at her, hoping the information wouldn’t send her into another attack. Roman didn’t seem to understand the reason for his hesitation, and helpfully jumped in instead.

 “You are in the head of someone in the MIGHTY state of Florida!”

 Virgil and Logan gave the creative side a hard look of disbelief.

 “What?” Roman asked, then seemed to understand as he looked at the white face of their guest. Virgil held his breath, not sure if his own nerves could handle calming the girl down another time…

 “Florida…as in the United States…” She took a steadying breath. “But…but I don’t have a passport?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I’ve kinda based this girl off me somewhat (she’s kiwi, etc) But please trust me when I say that this isn’t a self-insert. There is a plot, and I’ve really enjoyed writing it so far. The spotlight is almost always on the sides and Thomas, I just had a few headcannons in my head that I wanted to explore from the third party veiwpoint.   
> The other thing I want to say is there will be NO romantic pairings at all in this fic, so don’t worry about me pulling some f*ckery with Thomas’ sexuality, I would never disrespect him like that.   
> Hope you guys like it! THanks for the kind words of support so far <3


	6. The Facebook Stalk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sides try to figure out what is going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mention of a car crash and a possible death

 Logan started to laugh. He couldn’t help it…he was so stressed and unsure, and it was almost…nice to have someone seize on pretty much the only normal issue within the situation. They all looked at him in shock, but the woman cracked a crooked smile. She had decided that, for now, she would have to just roll with it.

 Hopefully she would wake up tomorrow.

 And if not…then she would truly panic.

 “I promise…haha…to not…get you deported.” Logan managed eventually.

 “Okay, Logan’s gone crazy.” Virgil said dryly. “That can’t be good.”

 “What’s your name?” Roman asked again, smiling himself at the rare sight of Logan laughing uncontrollably, even if it did probably mean he had lost the plot.

 The woman hesitated again, but then sighed and steadied herself.

 “Carrie. I’m Carrie Fern.”

 Patton smiled, then stood up. Virgil silently left the room.

 “Can I offer you a drink Ms Fern?”

 “I could murder a cup of tea right now.” Carrie admitted tiredly, missing Patton’s look of shock.

 “She means she would really enjoy one right now Patton.” Roman muttered, easing the parental side’s concern. Patton chuckled to himself and left the room.

 Carrie shifted awkwardly in her dress, the corset feeling very tight against her aching chest. She smiled as Patton re-entered the room with a steaming cup of tea, which she took gratefully.

 “Patton, would you mind staying here and…looking after our guest?” Logan asked. “Roman and I want to visit Thomas to check on him.”

 Patton nodded, despite everything, happy to have someone new to get to know. Carrie relaxed too, not exactly wanting to be left alone with the man that had been threatening to throw her out of a window.

 Logan and Roman left the living room before sinking out, not wanting to disappear in front of the girl in case it spooked her again. To Logan’s surprise, Virgil was already with Thomas.

 “He’s feeling okay.” Virgil said, cutting off Logan’s question. “I haven’t explained anything yet.”

 “What’s up guys?” Thomas asked nervously. “Where’s Patton?”

 “Patton is fine-” Logan began.

 “Well it all started earlier when we decided to go to the dreamscape and act out an EPIC tale of heroism…” Roman began, making Logan sigh in frustration.

 “Look Roman, please shut up for a moment. This is serious.”

 Roman looked hurt, but didn’t retaliate.

 “Basically Thomas, there is a young woman inside your head who is convinced she is a real person.” Logan said, a little harsher than he had intended.

 “Woah, woah…woah…” Thomas exclaimed, taking a step back in shock.

 “Nice subtlety there Brainiac.” Virgil muttered, wincing as he felt the panic surge within him.

 “So…what is she?” Thomas asked, clearly unsure what to think. He subconsciously ran his fingers through his hair.

 “She may be a newly formed side, or a manifestation of an emotion or some other facet of your subconscious…I haven’t been able to look into it yet properly. It’s all happened very fast.” Logan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

 “Some other facet…” Thomas repeated slowly.

 “Or, she could be real.” Virgil said grumpily.

 “Virgil, don’t be ridiculous.” Logan answered. “That is literally not possible.” He sounded like a man desperately clinging to a realm he could understand and trust.

 “Well there is an easy way to prove that.” Roman offered hesitantly.

 “What Roman?” Logan snapped. “Pray tell, what?”

 “Look her up on Facebook?” Roman said smugly, enjoying the look of slow realisation on Logan’s face.

 “That’s actually…not a bad idea.” Logan swallowed, as Thomas shakily got out his phone.

 “Her name is Carrie Fern, and she’s from New Zealand.” Virgil informed softly.

 “Apparently.” Logan muttered.

 Thomas was silent for a moment as he tapped in the relevant information and waited for the page to load. He showed his phone to the others, and scrolled through the results.

 “Anyone look familiar?”

 There were a few moments of scrolling, and Logan closed his eyes as Thomas kept going without luck, breathing a sigh of relief. Then…

 “That’s her.” Roman and Virgil spoke in unison.

 Thomas clicked onto the profile, and Logan sat down, suddenly feeling very, very sick.

 “She’s been on Facebook for six years…is Twenty-Two…lives in Wellington but her home town is a place called Gisborne?” Thomas tried not to completely lose the plot. It was certainly one of his weirder meetings with the sides, that’s for sure.

 “Have you met this woman before?” Logan suddenly said. “Is there any chance at all? Some scientists say that the subconscious never forgets a face…”

 “…from what I can tell, she’s never left New Zealand…” Thomas answered, slowly flicking through some recent posts and photos.

 “Send her a friend request or a message.” Virgil suggested, then quailing under Logan’s stare. “What? If she is a real person and responds, then we know she isn’t in Thomas’ head.”

 “Is there a phone number listed?” Roman suggested. “Ringing may be quicker.”

 “There is…” Thomas said, nervously looking up to gauge Logan’s reaction. He received a tight nod in response.

 They all held their breath as Thomas dialled the number, and to Logan’s relief, Virgil bit back his nervousness about the charge international calling would add to Thomas’ phone bill.

 Thomas put the phone on speaker, and they all waited with baited breath as it rang for about a minute, before going to voicemail.

 “Well…that proved…not a lot…” Thomas sighed, hanging up the phone. He started googling her instead.

 “There has got to be a logical explanation for this.” Logan muttered.

 “I don’t like leaving Patton alone with her…this is too weird.” Virgil mumbled. Thomas nodded understandingly at him, and Virgil sank out.

 “I think I will go too.” Roman sniffed, clearly a little fed up with Logan’s snippy tone. He sank out too, leaving Logan alone with his host.

 “My apologies Thomas…this is all very…complicated. I mean, we were doing this simulation in the dream world…and I was about to throw her out a window…Roman said everything was imaginary…I…” Logan struggled for a moment to find words, and looked up to see that Thomas had a very weird expression on his face.

 “She’s…” Thomas swallowed, and turned the phone to show Logan. It was a news report from earlier that day.

 Logan narrowed his eyes as he scanned the article. He remembered Carrie saying that she had been travelling between Wellington and Gisborne…

  _Crashed Car Found. Woman Driver Missing. Presumed Dead._


	7. Living Arrangements

 When Logan reappeared, it was in the middle of a heated debate between Patton and Roman. Virgil was perched on the stairs again, moodily glaring at Carrie, who was still in her armchair and onto her second cup of tea.

 Logan leaned on the rail of the stairs and glanced down at Virgil, worried. He recalled earlier that day, when Virgil had admitted to being on edge…

 Had he seen this coming?

 And if so, how?

 Logan was still trying to wrap his own head around the impossibility of the situation. Was Thomas being…haunted? Was there still a possibility that Carrie was not a real person? None of it made sense.

 Logan jumped as he felt a hand cautiously rub his arm that was resting on the rail, and looked down to see that Virgil had dropped his glare at Carrie, and was looking up at him with an odd look in his eyes. An understanding passed between them, and Logan felt his worries ebb slightly.

 Whatever it was, they would handle it. For now, …

 Logan finally tuned into the conversation.

 Patton and Roman were debating living arrangements.

 Roman was for creating a whole new separate room for Carrie to stay in, while Patton was putting forth a case for just creating a bed and extending the living room, so that Carrie didn’t feel alone, and he could help her should another panic attack take hold. Carrie was silent, swilling the tea leaves around the bottom of her empty mug.

 “What do you want to do Carrie?” Virgil muttered quietly to the guest. Carrie started a bit, and bit her lip.

 “Sorry…I wasn’t really listening. This whole thing…no offence guys but I just want to wake up in my own bed…in my own country…and in my own head…” She winced at the words, hearing how crazy they sounded. For now, she decided that either she was in this ridiculous scenario and it was real, or she had been kidnapped and drugged and it was all happening inside her head.

 “It’s okay if you still don’t want to believe this is real.” Virgil said thoughtfully. Patton and Roman had stopped debating, and were listening quietly. “I mean, it would be by far the easiest way to deal with it.”

 “Yes, I don’t believe there is any sure-fire way for us to prove it to you.” Logan added, his tone not unkind. “Thomas did try summoning you just then with me, how he summons us, but nothing happened. That further proved to me that you aren’t linked to his subconscious…that and the fact he was unaffected by your several panic attacks earlier…” He trailed off, and looked up, hoping he hadn’t caused offence. Carrie gave a shaky smile back, but her cheeks had reddened slightly at the comment.

 “My point was…” Virgil continued, fiddling with the end of his jacket sleeves. “If you make a room, it is kind of accepting the situation. It is also accepting that there may not be a temporary fix, which might be hard to process so soon. But staying in the living room means delaying that moment in the hope we work out what is going on before needing more space is necessary.”

 Logan blinked, clearly taken aback but impressed by Virgil’s rather in-depth analysis.

 Virgil raised his hands in defence. “Hey! She’s obviously an anxious person, who better to know about that than the literal embodiment of anxiety?”

 “You’re…you’re anxiety?” Carrie asked, her voice suddenly very wary. She had recoiled slightly at the casual admission, and clung to her cup a little tighter.

 Virgil’s eyes grew a little wider, but then he scowled and hunched down more onto the stairs. The air was suddenly full of a lot more serious tension, as Carrie looked from one side to the next.

 “Yes, and Virgil is a vital function and facet of Thomas’ personality.” Patton said, kindly but firmly. “I am Morality, Roman is Creativity, and Logan is Logic.”

 Carrie swallowed, looking guilty, but didn’t say anything.

 “Can I please have a separate room?” She asked in a quiet voice.

 Roman leapt into action. The living room had three doors: the first was the faux front door that led to Patton’s garden; the second was on the right side of the room and lead to the kitchen. The third door lead to a short hallway with blue wallpaper. Each side had two doors, all coloured accordingly so that Carrie didn’t have to try too hard to guess which room belonged to who.

 Roman strode down the hallway, leading Carrie by the hand. He stopped when he had passed all the doors, and hesitated, looked side to side, trying to decide which side of the hallway to put her on. Eventually he settled on a compromise – resting his hand against the blank wall at the end of the hallway.

 Carrie felt funny, her arm grew warmer in Roman’s grip.

 The shape of a door appeared in the wall, slowly becoming stronger, carving deeper, until they were gazing at a subtle yellow door with a silver handle. Roman looked back at Carrie and the sides who had followed in curiosity, then dramatically gripped the door handle and swung it open with a flourish.

 Roman let Carrie’s arm go and bowed forward, elegantly gesturing her to enter.

 Carrie gasped. It was a simple room really – light yellow walls and a dark blue roof. The carpet was lush and was pure white, giving at odd contrast. The bed in the corner was a single, and was covered in a tonne of pillows and blankets. On the opposite wall was a wardrobe, and an open door leading to an ensuite.

 “It’s very plain right now, but you tell me what to add and I’ll add it!” Roman smiled, trying to gauge Carries reaction. Usually, the sides had relative control over their own rooms. But Roman didn’t want to assume that with Carrie.

 Logan and Patton had followed in, making the space feel quite crowded. Virgil had slipped into his own room.

 Carrie just nodded, still looking very dazed and overwhelmed. Logan noticed the dark circles under her eyes, and wondered if he should tell her what Thomas had discovered on his phone.

 Patton on the other hand, went full dad mode.

 “You look very tired young lady. Now I want you in your pyjamas, your teeth brushed, and your butt in bed in ten minutes please.” He pointed kindly to the wardrobe. “We can sort out anything else in the morning.”

 Carrie closed her mouth and swallowed, nodding. There was still a chance she would wake up and everything would be normal…right? The three sides turned to leave, but she caught Roman’s arm quickly.

 “Erm…actually I just thought of something.” She said nervously.

 “You will find a set of pyjamas in your wardrobe Ms Fern.” Roman said with a smile.

 Carrie nodded. “Thank you, but I was actually wondering if you could make…how would I describe it…um…it’s a soft toy…”

 “Here.” Roman turned back around to face Carrie, who was still looking very small. “May I take your hands?”

 Carrie nodded, and held them out.

 “Now I want you to focus very clearly on this soft toy okay? Hold the image in your mind.”

 Carrie nodded, noting how that funny heat was back in her hands where they met the Prince’s.

 Roman let go, then moved his hands around as if he was shaping the air and squishing it into form. There was a flash of light…and he was holding a very old, very worn, Eeyore toy. He smiled kindly and handed it to Carrie, who took it gingerly.

 “The material feels the same…” She muttered, clutching it carefully. “He even smells the same…Thank you…”

 Roman bowed, and let himself out. He closed the door behind him carefully, feeling suddenly very sad at the image of those scared, confused, but thankful, tear-filled eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this fic an excuse to show all the sides being paternal and domestic???? Only partially lol


	8. A New Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan talks through some practicalities with Carrie.

 Carrie woke the next morning, having slept a long time. She had gone to bed early evening, and despite her usual sleep pattern, had succumbed rather quickly. She suspected it had something to do with the room, she felt…calmer in there, and clutching her old Eeyore toy, she didn’t feel so out of place.

 She didn’t want to leave the sanctuary.

 The mere existence of Eeyore and the room the next day was proof enough that wherever she was, it wasn’t a dream. So that left either being crazy (which wasn’t ideal), or real (which REALLY wasn’t ideal). Carrie kept playing the previous day over and over in her head…and strained to bridge the gap between waking up tied to a chair in a princess dress, and driving home.

 She found there was only one person she felt like talking to that was available to her.

 Carrie slowly extracted herself from her bed, and set her feet down on the carpet – enjoying how nice it felt between her toes. The pyjama’s Roman had conjured for her were obviously based around the pink princess outfit she had been wearing the previous day. She wore a light pink nighty with the word “Princess” bedazzled in pink sequins on the front. It had garish white frills on the hem and sleeves. If she was here another night, Carrie decided to design some clothes for Roman to conjure her.

 Carrie opened her door and padded down the hallway quietly. She couldn’t exactly tell the time by the artificial light, but her gut told her it was morning. It sounded as if someone was in the kitchen, there were the familiar noises of pots, plates, and the general sounds of cooking flowing through into the hallway. Carrie hesitated outside the navy-blue door, then gave a sharp knock.

 After a moment, there was a shuffling noise and the door opened.

 “Ms Fern.” Logan said, genuinely surprised. He was already dressed for the day in the same smart office-attire he had been in the day before. “What can I do for you?”

 Carrie shifted from foot to foot and bit her lip. “Can we…can we talk please?”

 Logan blinked, but nodded and stepped aside to allow her entry.

 Logan’s room was huge, and jam-packed full of books. Every gap in the wall space was covered with shelves and bookcases, all laden with books. His bed was squished into one corner, and a desk in the other. There were scientific instruments on the desk, some beakers bubbling away with unknown experiments. There was a framed picture of the other three sides on there too.

 Logan gestured for Carrie to sit at his desk chair, and he sat on his bed. For a moment, neither of them said anything.

 “So…you’re still here.” Logan began, feeling very uncomfortable. It was weird to have a stranger in his room…an illogical stranger. He couldn’t help but smirk slightly at her attire. “Roman’s idea, I’m guessing?” He gestured, hoping she would feel more comfortable with his attempt at humour.

 Carrie looked down, and despite herself, smiled. It did look a little ridiculous, but she was grateful for Roman’s effort none-the-less.

 “Yeah…I’m still here.” Carrie said carefully, looking up to gauge Logan’s reaction.

 “I would like to apologise for my behaviour yesterday.” Logan eventually managed, stiffly straightening his tie. “I had been cast as the villain in Roman’s make-believe exercise, and I was trying to prove a point about physics and the rights to creative control…” He trailed off, feeling like his apology was very lame.

 “Don’t worry about that. This is clearly outside your perception of what was logically possible.” Carrie said nervously, but giving the Logical side a smile. She had thought a lot about the sides in her room, and had thought how best to say this. “Besides, you thought I was imaginary. Given the setting and the instructions you seem to have been given, I completely understand.”

 Logan took a deep breath, appreciating the logical reasoning. Even though he still felt guilty, he knew if it had been Virgil, that would have been exactly the argument he would have made to him.

 “Well, thank you, Ms Fern.” Logan cleared his throat. “Please just know that from now on, I mean you no harm.”

 Carrie nodded, and they sat in silence a little longer.

 “I have…some questions.” Carrie said eventually.

 “I would be very surprised and concerned if you didn’t.” Logan admitted truthfully.

 “Virgil said that Thomas looked me up on Facebook, but he didn’t really say anything more than that.” Carrie said, playing with her hands distractedly. “Did Thomas find out anything about me? Like…am I still posting?”

 Logan gave her another hard, searching look. He hadn’t had much sleep, and had had a lot of time to think about what he would say to her here.

 “You weren’t posting, but we discovered a news report on Google. It said you had been involved in an automobile collision, and that you were in Wellington Hospital in a coma.” Logan felt his insides twist. Maybe he should have asked Patton on his take of what he should have said…but it was too late now. Carrie paled, and clasped her hands tightly together. She took a steadying breath, and Logan prepared to help her with another attack…

 “Right…okay…” She said, swallowing hard and nodding. “And you can’t think of any explanation about how this could have happened?”

 Logan shook his head, impressed at her self-control.

 “Okay, we can put that in the ‘too-hard’ basket for now.” She muttered, shifting in her chair awkwardly. “Next question: am I a danger to Thomas’ health while I am here?”

 Logan blinked in surprise, and smiled slightly, touched at her concern. He had been afraid that she wouldn’t understand that at the end of the day, his responsibility was towards Thomas, and Thomas alone.

 “Well, without being indelicate, yesterday was a very strenuous day for you.” Logan started. Carrie gave a snort and cracked a smile.

 “You can say that again!”

“Well, without being indelicate, yesterday was a very strenuous day for you.” Logan repeated, making Carrie smile more. He liked that.

 “That’s not what I – never-mind.” She laughed.           

 “Well, Thomas didn’t feel any of your distress as far as we could tell, which means that for now at least, your moods are independent of his mental space, which bodes well. We will have to see what happens over time to judge your effect completely.”

 “Okay.” Carrie said, nodding her head. “Next: do I have to…eat and drink while I am here? But I suppose…if my body is in hospital…they would be taking care of needs like that?” She had shivered at the word ‘body’, and Logan felt his insides twist again.

 “What we consume as sides is imaginary, but I do believe that it does go someway to sustaining us. Plus, Patton enjoys the act of cooking.” Logan babbled quickly. Surely Carrie was a subconscious entity…and not her literal consciousness…his head was starting to hurt again.

 “Okay…so I’ll just join you guys for meals and hope I don’t starve?” Carrie tried her best to keep her tone light, but she couldn’t meet Logan’s eyes. “Okay…um, next…”

 Carrie started to look a little uncomfortable, and bit her lip.

 “Would you mind my asking why you trusted me to give you council?” Logan eventually said. After the circumstances of their acquaintance he had thought he would be the last person she would trust.

 Carrie blinked, then sighed. “I suppose…for one, you’ve said that you’re Logic so I’m guessing you’ll have a clearer perception on the…situation…and I also just, felt that the other three were a bit…intense and I’m not feeling…too great at the moment if I’m being honest.” Carrie sniffed, but Logan nodded, trying not to feel too chuffed.

 “I appreciate that Ms Fern. Please know that you are safe, and that you can tell me anything that you wish.”

 Carrie nodded. “I’m sure you noticed yesterday, but I have, a rather large anxiety disorder.” She gulped, and looked at the ground. “I am usually on daily medication for it…I don’t really know what I’m asking but I’m worried about being off them. But I suppose it may be like the food and drink?”

 Logan bit his lip, thinking hard. “That does explain your reaction to Virgil yesterday.” He said, his mind scrambling for a suitable answer. To his horror, Carrie winced.

 “I am so sorry about that…I didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable…” She buried her face in her hands and tried to fend off the guilt she felt. “It’s just…I’ve never seen mine as a positive thing…”

 “Hey,” Logan said, cutting her off. “Virgil for Thomas is not what your anxiety is for you. Virgil is probably what you would consider on the higher side of the spectrum, but he is manageable, and usually represents genuine concerns for Thomas. He keeps Thomas safe, and he cares a lot about us and him. As for the medication…I’m afraid we are just going to have to wait and see. We could get Roman to replicate the pills, they wouldn’t be real, but maybe psychologically they could do the trick?”

 Carrie nodded again, twiddling her thumbs.

 “One more thing…” She said, eyeing Logan carefully, who sat forward to indicate his attentiveness. “I’m usually pretty open about this, but I really don’t know you, and I am literally in your house – so to speak – umm…”

 “If you are trying to indicate that you are not heterosexual, please feel welcome here.” Logan said.

 Carrie smiled. “Well…that wasn’t what I was going to ask about, but it is good to know…um…I’m a girl…biologically…and I’m not sure…will I have the same…bodily functions as I usually would?” After how kind Logan had been, the last thing Carrie wanted to do is make him feel uncomfortable. He instead looked thoughtful.

 “Well…we as sides occasionally get sick with physical symptoms so it is possible that your body will strive to replicate reality for you. Again, we may just have to wait and see, I’m afraid.”

 Carrie nodded again. Though she hadn’t got a lot of answers, she felt a little better having voiced her concerns to Logan, who didn’t seem as frazzled as he had done the day before.

 “I might…go see what is happening in the kitchen.” Carrie said, not wanting to overstay her welcome. She gave Logan a warm smile as he got up to open the door for her, and as he said goodbye, he made a mental note to ask Roman to conjure some pads and tampons, just in case.


	9. Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sides and Carrie sit down for breakfast and plan their next steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mention of anxiety and panic attacks but none occur.

 Patton had spent the morning cooking, his head swimming with everything. He was determined however, to keep his family together. He started by making a stack of pancakes and setting the table, but taking two plates and some condiments down the hall to the purple door.

 He knocked three times in quick succession, then gave a short sharp knock. The door opened almost instantly to a bleary-eyed Virgil, who grunted his appreciation and ushered Patton in. Patton gulped as he felt the familiar rush of anxiety that came hand in hand with Virgil’s room wash over him. Though used to it by now, it still broke his heart.

 Virgil took the offered plate of pancakes, and the chocolate sauce from Patton, and squirted an exuberant amount onto his food. He collapsed onto his bed, while Patton took his seat at Virgil’s desk – where Virgil kept a spider-free space just for the father figure.

 Patton ate his own pancakes (laden with sugar and lemon juice) in relative silence, mulling over the younger sides’ appearance.

 Virgil hadn’t applied his trade-mark make up yet, but unless you knew he had literally just woken up, you wouldn’t be able to tell by the look of him.

 “What’s up Padre?” Virgil asked, a little bit of chocolate on his lip. Patton sighed.

 “I know you’ve been stressed kiddo…and then all this happens…if you were okay then I’d think Thomas was going crazy.” He admitted, taking another bite of pancake.

 Virgil shrugged. “Well, yeah. You can’t say that this is bloody normal.” He refused to meet Patton’s eye.

 “I’m sure she didn’t mean to flinch away from you…” Patton began, remembering the moment from the previous day.

 “I don’t care if she did.” Virgil scowled. “I’m a scary guy.” He said with chocolate now all over his face. “I just…I think I understand anyway. She had a lot of successive attacks…not to mention the entire time she was tied up with you guys…”

 Patton shifted guiltily. “I should have gone with my gut there.” He admitted. “Logan thought it was a plot by Roman, so he didn’t want anything to do with her.”

 Virgil chewed and swallowed thoughtfully. “My point is…I know the effect I have on Thomas can sometimes be unpleasant.” He held up a hand to stop Patton as he opened his mouth. “It’s okay, Patton. I know it can. But we have been working together a lot better lately…what I’m trying to say is that she appears to have anxiety much higher than me. I’m sure Logan would be able to diagnose her more adequately.” Virgil made a face.

 “She’ll come ‘round.” Patton said softly. “We will do our best to figure this out.”

 Virgil sighed, and put his now empty plate down onto his bed. “You don’t think she is…one of _them_ …do you?”

 Patton cocked his head thoughtfully. “What does your gut say?”

 “…That it wants more pancakes.”

 Patton burst out laughing, in spite of himself.

 “There’s more in the kitchen.” He said, standing, having finished himself. He gathered up the plates and condiments, carefully leaving Virgil’s question unanswered – something Virgil couldn’t miss. He looked up, and sighed as he met Virgil’s hard-gaze.

 “They could very well have something to do with it…but I do not see why. It seems like a lot of effort for questionable gains. We will just have to be vigilant.”

 Virgil nodded tightly, and followed Patton out of his room, down the hall, and into the kitchen.

 Roman was already tucking into a massive stack of pancakes, topped with icing sugar and fresh strawberries. Carrie sat next to him in her ridiculous nighty, and was tucking into a single pancake drenched in golden syrup. She looked up sharply at their entrance, and smiled warmly.

 “Good morning.” She said. “Delicious pancakes Patton! I’ll have to peek at your recipe if you’ll let me…”

 “Well, golly Ms Fern!” Patton beamed, instantly becoming bashful. “We will just have to make that happen now, won’t we?”

 “Good morning Virgil.” Carrie added, noting that Virgil hadn’t really acknowledged her. “Haere Mai, come tuck in!”

 In spite of himself, Virgil met Carries gaze.

 “What?”

 “Pardon.” Patton corrected, as he sat down and loaded his plate with seconds.

 “ _Pardon_?” Virgil repeated, a little sarcastically. Carrie looked a little unsure.

 “I’m sorry…um I said _Haere Mai,_ it means ‘welcome’ or ‘come over here’ in Maori.”

 “Ohhh are we discussing the rich cultural history of New Zealand?” Logan entered, looking around with eagerness. “I was going to ask you to elaborate on your country Ms Fern.”

 Carrie bit her lip. “I’m nowhere near an expert. You just learn a little bit of the language in school…” She trailed off, looking really nervous now, and put down her fork. 

 Virgil sat down, recognising that Carrie was trying to extend an olive branch. She took a deep breath.

 “I would just like to say…I’m really sorry for freaking out yesterday…particularly on you two, Patton and Virgil. As you may have noticed, I’m a little highly strung.” She gave a weak smile. “I want you to know that I make no judgement or hold no prejudice against any of you.” She didn’t look at him directly, but Virgil knew this speech was mainly for his benefit.

 “Fair enough Carrie.” Virgil grunted reaching forward and grabbing his seconds as Logan took the last empty seat.

 “So, what are we doing today?” Roman asked, mouth full of pancake.

 They all looked at Logan.

 Logan sighed, and put down his fork.

 “Well, I was going to start doing some research, and try to figure out exactly what has happened, and how we may be able to go about freeing Ms Fern from Thomas’ mind.” He looked around at the general nodding that was going on, noting that Carrie had lost a little bit of colour again. “It is Sunday, and I suggest that Thomas should take advantage of this and have a so-called ‘lazy-day’ and avoid strenuous activities.”

 Carrie noted how Virgil visibly relaxed.

 Roman nodded and swallowed down his latest mouthful. “I will explore the dreamscape and some other creative areas of the mind to see if I can find any clues.”

 “Before you go, would you mind conjuring me a writing pad and some drawing supplies please?” Carrie said, suddenly remembering. “I’d like to design some more clothes for me to wear to add to your collection, if that’s okay.”

 Roman looked only too happy at the prospect of impressing his guest with more fantastic displays of his creative prowess.

 “No problem Ms.” He grinned, standing and gripping his sword. “You will find the supplies in the living room before I leave on my epic quest!”

 “I wouldn’t mind doing some drawing too.” Virgil muttered, almost to himself. Carrie was conscious of the fact that he probably wanted to keep a close eye on her, but, given what Logan had told her about him, that seemed par for the course. She smiled encouragingly at him, but he didn’t meet her gaze.

 “I’ll…check upstairs.” Patton said amiably. Carrie couldn’t miss the sudden change of atmosphere, but no one argued against the oldest personality trait.


	10. Da Vinci's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil and Carrie make small talk and draw

 With their art supplies successfully conjured, Virgil and Carrie spread out on the living room floor, lying on their stomachs. Carrie had changed back into her princess dress from the day before. She had noticed that the others wore the same outfits, and she wondered if it was somehow linked to the capacity of Thomas’ imagination. Carrie didn’t want to be a strain while she was there, and not knowing the physics or ‘laws’ of existence in her new…situation…she wanted to play it safe.

 So, she set about designing two outfits: one for everyday wear, and one for sleeping in. Her head still throbbed, her mind tying itself in knots over what to believe or what to do, but she absent-mindedly rubbed Eeyore’s ear between her fingers in an effort to stay grounded.

 “Why Eeyore?” Virgil grunted, after about half an hour of silence. Carrie looked up in surprise to see that Virgil was looking at her oddly. She blushed a little and put her pencil down.

 “I…I was given him when I was about 6 months old. I dunno, I kinda just never put him down when I was little. But…I lost him about a year ago. I know it’s stupid – he was just a soft toy I mean, and a really old one at that – but he used to help me relax…he was a friend…” Her cheeks grew steadily redder as Virgil just held his gaze.

 “Thomas has literally invested so much time and thought in us sides that we manifested and became real. I don’t think we can judge you for having a strong relationship with something grounded in imagination.” Virgil broke his eye contact and picked up his marker again. Carrie nodded a little.

 “It’s just…” Virgil suddenly added, chewing on the end of his pen. “Most people like the other characters in Winnie the Pooh, because they are happy or smart or fun. Eeyore is…Eeyore is a lot of effort to be around.”

 Carrie looked down at Eeyore, pulling him closer and hugging him. “But he is accepted for who he is.” It felt lame, but she couldn’t really think of anything else to say. Virgil just nodded, and started working on his art again.

 “You remind me more of Piglet, anyway.” Carrie said, sketching another possible design onto her paper.

 “That’s not what I was…why?” Virgil seemed genuinely surprised. Carrie looked up, remembering what Logan had told her about the anxious side.

 “Well, he is usually the one who is aware of the consequences, he worries about his friends because sometimes they are too idealistic, and he keeps them safe.”

 Virgil refused to look up this time, and Carrie had a hard time reading him. But she was on a roll now, so she figured she would just keep going.

 “From what I can tell…well on principle I suppose Thomas would be Christopher Robin…Patton could be Pooh Bear, he’s all about morals and he’s very considerate to others…I suppose Logan would be Owl because he’s very smart and fascinated with the world…which leaves Roman as -”

 “Tigger.” Virgil finished, snorting with laughter. Carrie laughed, enjoying the moment. “Yeah that actually sounds about right.”

 They lapsed into a more comfortable silence this time, both scratching away with their pencils on paper. Virgil wasn’t drawing exactly…he seemed to be writing.

 The pair heard a very distinctive bump from upstairs…and Virgil suddenly tensed.

 “What was that?” Carrie asked, looking up nervously.

 Virgil stared at the roof, with a dark expression on his face.

 “Just a few rats.” He practically hissed, his moody expression making Carrie miss the brief smile she had witnessed. There was a tense moment of watching the ceiling before Patton came down the stairs.

 “Hey kiddos! How are my Leonardo DiCaprio’s?” He seemed cheery enough, but Virgil didn’t lose his frown.

 “I think you mean _Da Vinci’s_.” Logan said as he entered the living room with a stack of papers.

 “What about my Vintage Cheese?” Patton said with a smirk as he reached the bottom of the steps. Logan just froze, and took a deep breath, exhaling loudly. Carrie giggled. Virgil flipped his work over subtly as Patton and Logan passed him into the kitchen.

 “If we’re having cheese I can conjure up some crackers!” Roman boasted, entering the living room. “Oh, I am digging the creative vibe in here!” He looked around smiling, Virgil scowled and looked down, starting to pack up.

 Roman shrugged and moved into the kitchen, where Carrie could hear the sound of a kettle boiling.

 “Do you like it?” Carrie asked Virgil, holding up her two designs. Virgil looked up, a little defensive, and chewed his lip. Usually with Thomas, he would have to worry about a whole range of factors on the practicalities and issues with an outfit…would it be too hot? Too cold? If the weather changed abruptly would it be bad? Would he end up feeling uncomfortable in it? Would others like it? Virgil actually found it quite nice, for once, to not really have to consider that. He smiled and nodded. Carrie laughed and also started to pack up. Though she didn’t ask, Virgil – after a moment of internal conflict – held up his own work.

 “Thomas isn’t very good at drawing…” He mumbled, looking at the floor.

 “Wow.” Carrie simply said, and Virgil looked up to gauge her reaction. She seemed…impressed?

 Virgil’s ‘picture’ was made up of words…grey words showed a swirling sky; dark black words showed a hill. In the middle, an outline of a person standing alone on the crest, looking out into the abyss.

 “That is awesome! Are those…MCR lyrics?”

 “Black Parade.” Virgil gave a half smile, pleased with the positive response.

 “I LOVE that song!”

 “KIDDOS! LUNCH!” Patton called. Carrie looked back at Virgil to see that he was already leaving, picture in hand, in the opposite direction.


	11. Scrubs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman tries to help Carrie wake up from the coma that Logan says she is definitely in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Hospital, flatlining (fake), slight panic from Virgil at one point

 “So, did you find anything Spock?”

 “I would have preferred Data, but that is irrelevant Roman. My research has indicated that there are a few ways to wake someone from a coma, but they have to really want too.”

 Carrie suddenly felt really nervous. They had been so nice, made her feel so welcome. Patton noticed her unease instantly.

 “Don’t worry there, Kiddo, we will not put you in any harm just to make you hate it here.”

 Logan blinked in surprise, then noticed Carrie relax, and felt even more guilty.

 It had been hard to do the research, mainly because he knew that it was useless since Carrie was not in a coma, as far as he could tell. He bit his lip, his head twinging.

 They were all sitting at the table in the kitchen, having finished lunch. Virgil had joined them late in the piece, accepting a piece of toast and a small bowl of Patton’s soup.

 “I have compared your last described moments of reality to what Thomas was doing at the time, and I can see nothing out of the ordinary that may tie you two together or produce this phenomenon. Without looking into higher powers, or some form of natural force, I can’t even begin to fathom what caused this.” Logan shuffled through his notes, rattling on quickly.

 “So: you got nuthin’.” Virgil surmised, arms folded.

 “Well I have an idea!” Roman suddenly gasped. “Let’s put you through some simulations and try to get you to wake up naturally! We can go to the dreamscape and – I don’t know – replicate the hospital?” Roman stood, now fully enraptured by his developing plan. “I will be your dashing Doctor forward slash MUSICIAN! When I can’t cure my patients through my sheer skill (being the world’s number one doctor in the world), I can sure people by just the magic of my melodies!”

 Carrie blinked, and Roman was suddenly in scrubs and a Doctors coat. He struck a pose, gripping his stethoscope dramatically, face fill of pure joy.

 “That had got to be the stupidest -” Virgil began, but was cut off by Logan.

 “It sounds like it could work Roman, well done!”

 Roman beamed. Virgil narrowed his eyes at Logan. Patton clapped his hands.

 “You take Virgil, Patton and Carrie, and I’ll go and talk through some stuff with Thomas.” His tone was light, but he wouldn’t meet Virgil’s eyes.

 The next thing Carrie knew was that she was in a hospital bed…she was dimly aware of the sounds of beeping machines, and to her right seemed to be a door that opened up into a busy corridor. She tried opening her eyes, but found that she couldn’t.

 Roman looked around at his work – Patton was in scrubs and Virgil was in a…suit?

 “What the hell am I wearing?” He asked, horrified. He twisted awkwardly in the tight suit.

 “You are Carrie’s boyfriend! Here!” Roman snapped his fingers and suddenly Virgil was holding a box of chocolates and his face was obscured by a massive bouquet of flowers held in his other hand.

 “She never said she was straight.” Virgil grumbled, now really hating this. Roman looked shocked.

 “My god…dear me that is poor of me to assume.”

 SNAP

 Virgil was now a beautiful young woman.

 “What did I say about changing me without my consent?” He growled, really starting to get angry.

 “Be-besides Roman, she never said she liked girls either.” Patton interjected quickly, hoping to avoid an argument. Roman ignored Virgil, but contemplated Patton carefully.

 “Fine.” He sighed, snapping Virgil back into his classic purple attire. He relaxed, but still glared at the creative side.

 “You are her older brother, estranged for years, but upon hearing the news of the accident you have rushed to her side to make amends before it’s too late…”

 “Too late?” Virgil winced. As if on cue, the monitors went haywire.

 “Nurse! We are losing her!” Roman yelled dramatically.

 “WHAT?!” Patton yelled, suddenly paling.

 “Relax Patton, it’s just make-believe.”

 “That’s what Logan said in the tower.”

 “What was that?”

 “Er…nothing Roman.”

 “YOUNG MAN!” Roman exclaimed, startling Virgil. “You are her only hope, coax her into waking up!”

 “I…” Virgil tried to steady his breathing. _It’s not real. She’s not actually dying. It’s not real._

 “Dammit Virgil.” Roman sighed as the monitors flatlined. He snapped his fingers and Carrie sat up, breathing heavily.

 “Did you feel anything?” Patton asked nervously. Virgil huffed and sank out.

 Carrie frowned. “I…I don’t know. I could hear you guys…but I could hear something else too.”

 “Let’s try it again! From the top!” Roman said excitedly. Patton frowned and sighed.

 ~

 Virgil found Thomas was already in a deep discussion with Logan, which they abruptly broke off when he appeared.

 “Glad to see you too.” He picked at his sleeves moodily. After a not so bad morning, the day had taken a really shitty turn.

 “How is Roman’s experiment going?” Logan asked. Putting down his notepad.

 Virgil just groaned.

 “That bad huh?”

 “He’s got a whole hospital wing set up and he’s putting her in a kind of faux coma, and trying different ways to make her want to wake up. But if it takes too long she flatlines.” He was really not impressed with Princy’s efforts here.

 Logan went white.

 “Roman is making her die over and over again?”

 “Not exactly…I think it’s just the machines. They aren’t actually hooked up to her.”

 Logan shared a dark look with Thomas. “I think I better go stop this activity.”

 “Yeah, I am surprised Roman is being so indelicate.” Thomas said, rubbing the back of his head, as Logan sank out.

 “I mean yeah, but his heart is in the right place.”

 “Why is he putting her in a faux coma? I don’t get it.”

 Virgil looked at Thomas, his suspicions about Logan’s behaviour suddenly seeming more realistic.

 “What exactly did that Google article say about Carrie?”

~

 Roman was grumpy all afternoon after Logan hurriedly broke up his simulation. But after hearing that Carrie had heard…something…Patton went back upstairs for the rest of the afternoon.

 Carrie stayed in her room mainly, reading some books about stars that she had borrowed from Logan. He had been ecstatic to have another space enthusiast to talk too.

 Logan continued his research, though the number of books that had been thrown on the floor in frustration were growing by the hour.

 It was early evening when Logan was startled by his door flying open, and Virgil charged in. His eye shadow practically came down to the middle of his cheeks and he was panting hard. His fists were balled at his side and as he slammed the door, Logan noticed that Virgil was shaking.

 “Er…What can I do for you, Virgil?” Logan said, his stomach drooping as he internally cursed. He had an inkling what Thomas had told the anxious side.

 “Why are you wasting everyone’s time with this COMA BULLSHIT?” Virgil’s voice had that terrifying dark, gravelly, echoing quality to it that never failed to make Logan shiver. The shadows in his room seemed drawn to Virgil, as he furiously glared at Logan.

 Logan couldn’t think of anything to say. He opened his mouth, but all his reasoning and theories and justifications shrivelled and died in his throat.

 “Do you have ANYTHING TO SAY?” Virgil screamed, safe in the knowledge that their rooms were relatively soundproof when they wanted them to be.

 Logan took a steadying breath, and looked around at the mess his room had devolved into. His hands were shaking too…he realised. The magnitude of their situation once again fell onto him in full force, Logan gasping as his headache grew – he felt like his head was going to split open…

 “I just…” Logan gulped, and realised he was crying. Virgil’s expression softened slightly, but only by a fraction. “I just don’t _understand_.”

 “Logan. Is she…I mean…do you think…” Virgil struggled, massaging his own headache.

 “Yes.” Logan sniffed. “I personally believe that Carrie Fern is dead…or at least, nearly so.”


	12. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sides and Thomas figure some stuff out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of Death

 They stood there for a long time, Virgil’s breathing steadying but the darkness didn’t dissipate. Virgil eventually blinked, cracked his knuckles, and sat cross-legged on the floor.

 “So…why didn’t you tell any of us?” He sighed, staring at the ground and picking at the carpet.

 Logan sighed, and sat on his bed, facing Virgil.

 “Well, I did not think it appropriate to inform Ms Fern of something like that until I could be sure, we are off-script here – so-to-speak – I just don’t know how she would react. She could go insane…she may just accept it and ‘move on’ to whatever the next life is…perhaps Thomas would go insane…I feel like I’m about to, admittedly.”

 Virgil nodded, but didn’t look up.

 “I didn’t tell Patton because he says: ‘lying is wrong’, and I didn’t want him to drop the ball or feel like he had to compromise his values.” Logan hesitantly continued, earning another nod from Virgil. “I was going to tell you…and I suppose Roman…I just…I couldn’t…my head hurts a lot.”

 Virgil sighed. “I suppose this whole mess is tougher on Logic than I gave you credit for, Logan. But…did you actually read the article?”

 “I skimmed it.” Logan admitted, biting his lip. He looked up to see that Virgil was looking at him, his expression unreadable. “What?”

 “The article was published yesterday, but it said that Carrie had been missing at least a week.”

 Logan looked floored, standing up, he started to pace. “A week? How could I be so careless? I did think it was odd they had named her publicly after only a few hours…and that they had declared her missing after such a short space of time…what does this mean? Has she been in Thomas’ mind for all that time? Or did she just appear the exact moment we entered Roman’s simulation? She claims to have no memory of that time…where would she have been…”

 “Logan.”

 Logan stopped, and noticed that Virgil was very tense again.

 “Please stop pacing, you’re freaking me out a little bit.”

 “Oh. My apologies, Virgil.” Logan sat back down and made an effort to not tap his foot. “So…I apologise for not being open with you. As you can see, I am at a…I’m at a bit of a loss.”

 “Remember the first time we appeared to Thomas in the real world, and not just inside his dreams?”

 Logan grimaced as the memory flicked across his mind – he had had about the same reaction as he was having currently. He nodded slightly.  

 “The rule book has changed before. It’s okay to need time to adjust. It took you a long time to help us figure out the new boundaries then, but you got there eventually. For now, I think all we can do is make Thomas keep an eye on the New Zealand news to see if anything turns up, but we are going to have to accept that this may be a long-term gig.”

 Logan nodded, a little taken aback. “I’m supposed to be the smart one you know.”

 “You looked like you needed a break from that.” Virgil chuckled. Logan gave him a small smile.

“So…what do we tell everybody?” Logan asked carefully.

 Virgil buried his head in his hands. _Yes,_ it was nice to be consulted, but now there was pressure to get it right.

 “We have to tell Roman.” He eventually decided, remembering his doctor act that afternoon. “We can’t have him doing anything like that again, even if he didn’t really know how close he was. I mean, what if she realised? What if she remembered dying? She would have freaked.” Virgil shivered.

 “Agreed.” Logan nodded, then hesitated. “We should tell Patton too. It wasn’t fair of me to keep this from any of you. Together we can decide what to do.”

 Virgil nodded, glad that Logan had stepped in for that part. With a grunt he rose, and held out a hand to Logan. He accepted it, and Virgil pulled him up.

 The pair left: Logan to grab Roman, and Virgil to grab Patton. They sank out together, and appeared to Thomas.

 The host was having a late dinner, and jumped, splashing pasta sauce all over himself as he dropped his fork.

 “You’re all here…” He managed with a smile, looking a little apprehensive.

 “It’s okay.” Virgil said from his spot of the stairs. “I think she’s asleep anyway, and so far, she seems safe.” He was the anxiety inside of Thomas, he couldn’t exactly ignore his qualms about leaving her alone in his head. Thomas nodded slowly, and shot Virgil a smile.

 “Okay, I was not completely honest with you all.” Logan took a steadying breath, and refused to look at Patton. “Please show them the real article, Thomas.”

 Thomas grabbed his phone and brought the article up, handing it to Patton who held it so Roman could see too. “You didn’t tell them about the article?”

 “I did…but I said that Carrie was in hospital and in a coma.”

 Patton’s expression was hard to read, but Roman’s face went from confused to shocked to mortified to angry so fast it made Virgil’s head swim.  

 “If it helps, he didn’t tell me either and I have already kicked his ass.” Virgil drawled, not wanting to waste time.

 “Look Captain _Smirk_ I have a right to be mad and I am going to give Logan a piece of my mind-”

 “By all means do that Roman.” Logan said, adjusting his glasses. “Though I don’t think you can afford to give too much away, you may not have enough mind left to function.”

 “HOW DARE YOU!” Roman yelled, balling his fists. “How dare you? You’re telling me that after inadvertently putting Ms Fern through a medieval _kidnap_ scenario with a psycho who was threatening to _kill her_ …I put a possible _dead girl_ through dying _again_ , half a dozen times?”

 Logan opened his mouth, then swallowed his words, nodding slightly.

 “Thomas, tell them what else we figured out.” Virgil said, massaging his temples.

 Thomas looked a little put off by Roman’s outburst, but he finished his mouthful. “Well, when Logan and I found the article, we didn’t look into it too much. Yesterday was…kind of a big day. My point is, the article was published yesterday, and we assumed the whole thing had happened yesterday too…but apparently, she’s been missing for about a week, they only found the _car_ yesterday.”

 “We don’t know anything else.” Logan said quickly, as Roman opened his mouth.

 “For now, …we think this is just going to be the new normal.” Virgil mumbled.

 “Are we being haunted?” Patton suddenly asked. His face was white, and he was still holding Thomas’ phone.

 “She seems to be the subconscious entity of herself, rather than her conscious self – i.e. her soul, if you believe such things – since she doesn’t seem to have affected Thomas much beyond a small headache, and that may not be consequential.” Logan said softly. “Short answer: I do not know. The question is: what do we tell her?”

 “We obviously have to tell her the truth-” Roman began, getting cut off by Patton.

 “No.”

 Everyone stared at him.

 He shook his head, looking miserable. “Listen, I know what I always say…but that applies to the real world, to real people. Our first obligation is to Thomas, and we don’t know how it will affect him if she has a bad reaction to the truth. Usually, the people deserve to know because they are autonomous human beings…but in this case…Ms Fern is arguably not autonomous.”

 “That makes me feel uncomfortable…” Thomas admitted, wincing.

 “You sure you’re…you?” Virgil asked suddenly, his eyes narrowed. “You went to visit upstairs _twice_ today. How do we know you’re not Deceit? Or someone else?”

 “Captain _Lurk_ over here has a point.” Roman added.

 “Seriously?” Virgil groaned. The only thing he hated more than the dumb nicknames…were when Roman just used variations of dumb nicknames.

 “Oh, come on, it takes a lot to be this funny all the time, Captain WORK.”

 “Gentlemen…” Logan interjected with a warning tone. Thomas was eyeing Patton warily.

 Patton sighed and teared up slightly. “It is a valid question, kiddo.’ Patton had hated saying it, or even advocating for lying, but for now they just didn’t have enough information. It made him feel even worse that Virgil had jumped instantly to Deceit…

 “I suppose the rule book has been turned upside down a bit for you too, huh, Patton?” Logan gave a shaky smile. Patton laughed.

 “You can say that again!”

“I suppose the rule book has been turned upside down a bit for you too, huh, Patton?” Logan repeated, earning groans from the crowd at large.

 “Okay…how about we tell her that she is not in a coma, but simply missing. That’s true, what does the news know anyway? They are just presuming…” Patton offered, wiping his misted glasses on the sleeve of his cat sweater.

 There seemed to be a general consensus.

 “How are you holding up Thomas?” Virgil asked softly, noticing that Thomas looked like he needed a week-long nap.

 “I’m…I really don’t know?” Thomas admitted, putting his hands in his pockets and shrugging. “You say I have someone else’s soul…or at very least their consciousness inside my head…am I like a Horcrux now? What happens if she does start affecting me? Am I like…another person now? Is this how multiple personality disorders start?”

 “Valid questions Thomas.” Logan said, cutting off his spiralling train of thought. “Any of that could be possible – bar the Horcrux theory, I am accepting new rules, but I will not go that far yet – but the important thing is that initially, you are still you.”

 “We should go on a quest to New Zealand to find her!” Roman suddenly burst out, looking excited. A real life adventure? A strange land? A literal damsel in distress? Surely it was destiny!

 “That’s a lot of money…” Virgil started, groaning at the idea.

 “Virgil is correct, plus if their police force has not uncovered anything by now, I doubt Thomas would.” Logan pointed out. Thomas looked to be deep in thought.

 “I don’t want her to be dead.” Patton said, shivering. “We wouldn’t know what we would find, if we went. It might not be pretty.” Patton seemed upset, contemplating the fate of Carrie.

 “Can I meet her?” Thomas asked quietly, looking torn. “I know I can’t summon her, but I’ve gone into the mind palace before, I could meet her there?”

 “I don’t think that would be a good idea, for now Thomas.” Logan frowned. “I need to know if she begins to have influence over you, if she starts appearing in dreams, or in other ways. The easiest way for me to measure that is by limiting your information about her, like what her room and clothes look like, so if you do see something I can tell if it’s just your imagination or if it’s the real deal.”

 Thomas nodded slightly, his head was starting to hurt again.

 The meeting wrapped up. Virgil didn’t want to leave Carrie in the mind palace for too long alone, in any fashion.

 Unbeknownst to Virgil, however, Carrie hadn’t been alone. She was sound asleep, clutching her Eeyore toy and smiling as she snuggled in to the warmth of the bed.

 But she wasn’t alone.


	13. Montage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first week goes by, and Carrie gets to know Patton and Roman.

 The first week went by seemingly by jumping from drama to drama: the space in the mind palace seemed a little too crowded at times. It didn’t help that Logan continued his fruitless research, and Virgil was constantly on edge and both were quick to anger. Roman bore the brunt of this frustration – as he usually would – but he seemed to allow himself to enjoy Carrie’s company without feeling guilty or worried, like the others.

 They talked about hopes, dreams, their favourite Disney films (as Carrie was, thankfully, a huge fan). They talked about Moana, and its connection to New Zealand and Carrie’s eyes shone as she explained the different Maori influences on the piece, and where it differed from official Maori myth and legend. They talked about their shared love of theatre, and acting, and discussed memorable, funny, or tragic moments from their experiences on the stage. They talked about romance, and sexuality, something that Carrie had always personally struggled with.

 “I used to call myself the _Ice Queen_ , because I didn’t actually care about someone romantically once we were official…” She said one morning. She sat cross-legged on Roman’s four poster bed, while he wrote at his desk.

 “Have you considered you may be Asexual or Aromantic?” He said, chewing his pencil thoughtfully.

 “I wondered that for a long time…but it just didn’t really seem like the right fit for me…I mean…” She blushed. “I definitely have a sex-drive…if you could call it that…”

 “Well you don’t have to have it all figured out yet, just accept that sometimes it is not as clear for some as others.” He grinned, looking up at his Rainbow coloured feature wall.

 “I just…I like to have things figured out…ya know?”

  The pair performed duets (Carrie finding out, to her delight, that she was suddenly not tone-deaf), talked about boys…and after a little bit of soul-searching, boys _and_ girls for Carrie.

 She spent a bit of time with Patton also, helping him out in his little garden. Roman had extended it slightly, so there was work enough for two. Though she enjoyed the father figure and appreciated his puns and silliness, sometimes the garden unnerved her. The dirt felt…too light, at times. It never lodged underneath her fingernails and her hands were easy to clean after. The tableau Roman had conjured instead of the void that had served as a background was something she preferred to keep her back too. Her head just hurt too much if she started thinking too hard about her surroundings.

 They cooked together too. Carrie usually just followed Patton’s instructions with a hearty “Yes Chef!”, but on the Wednesday night, he passed his special spatula to her.

 “Are…are you sure?” She said nervously, remembering countless kitchen disasters she had had in her own time.

 “Don’t worry kiddo, I’ll be here the entire time and you literally cannot set fire to anything!” Patton beamed.

 It wasn’t a total disaster, Patton was able to help Carrie channel her memories into her actions and therefore produce an edible meal – though the roast lamb was slightly charred.

 Virgil picked up a small fritter between his fingers and eyed it suspiciously.

 “That’s a whitebait fritter. Whitebait are tiny fish that are caught in rivers, and you put the whole thing in the fritter!” Carrie explained. “Try it with lemon!”

 Virgil tried not to look into their tiny eyes as he hesitantly took a bite.

 The dessert of Pavlova and chocolate cake went down a little better.

 If she wasn’t at a meal, or with Roman or Patton, Carrie was in her room. It was the place that felt the most _real_ to her, for some reason. She drew and painted the walls all around her, sure that her artistic ability had by far improved just because the instruments she was using were conjured by the literal manifestation of Creativity.

 The wall with the door that led to the hallway was painted to look like a beach at sunrise, the distinctive hills and rocks reminding her of a special place she used to go to on family holidays. She was planning out the other walls, as she wanted to pace herself. She couldn’t help but liken herself to Rapunzel at the beginning of Tangled, and she found herself singing the opening song often.

 Despite literally being inside someone’s head, Carrie had never felt more alone. She couldn’t access the internet, she couldn’t do much of what she used to do. And Carrie worried, day and night, about what was happening to her, and what the effect this might be having on Thomas.

 Though she had been told she was missing, and had been for at least a week by the time she was found by the sides, she was losing hope of ever being ‘found’. Carrie couldn’t help but wonder if the sides new she was dead.

 Logically, she would be by now, unless there was still a shade of her consciousness still left in her body? But even then…where was her body? Nothing had been found, but surely, she hadn’t literally appeared in Thomas’ mind?

 The thing that stuck with Carrie was the fact that she didn’t _feel_ dead. Surely, it would feel different to this? And if she was dead…what on earth had she done to end up in this odd purgatory?

 Her religious faith had been sorely tested, and that made her feel even more alone.

 Carrie was less alone than she knew, though if enlightened, it would have probably left her feeling even more scared.

 She was watched, every time she went to sleep.

 And every time she woke, Carrie felt that little bit more solid…and the outside of her room felt that little bit less so. Patton’s food tasted a little blander with every bite.

 That Sunday morning, Carrie scratched her eighth notch onto the wall beside her bed. She sighed, turned over, and grappled with how empty she felt…how purposeless. What was she doing? She couldn’t influence Thomas, nor did she want too. But she could hardly live her life either…

Instead of adhering to Patton’s breakfast call, she rolled over and went back to sleep.

~

 “Of course, we should invite her…at least give her the option.” Patton said. “She’s spending far too much time in her room as of late.”

 Virgil snorted, mouth full of pasta. In answer to the odd looks he received, he quickly swallowed.

 “It’s nothing…it’s just…it’s nice to not be the problem child for once.” Virgil grinned, having been on the end of Patton’s wrath more than a few times in his life: the man took his father figure roll very seriously. It was nice to witness it from the outside for once.

 It was dinner time, and the four of them sat round the table, discussing their weekly family night. Last week they had decided to skip it…more because no one wanted to be the one to bring it up, Carrie only having arrived the day before. It had been Logan’s turn to decide, and despite how he had practically avoided her for a week, he wanted to use his night to help her feel a little more at ease.

 “Roman, why don’t you go ask her?” Patton implored. Roman hesitated.

 “She didn’t turn up to hang out today…I know we didn’t exactly plan it, but she hasn’t missed a morning since, like, last Sunday.” Roman pouted, but quailed under Patton’s glare. “Okay Patton, right away Padre.”

 Virgil snickered as Roman scrambled up and away, quite liking this new trend of others being under Patton’s pump. He regretted it instantly when Patton rounded on him.

 “Young man, are you still in your pyjamas?”

 Virgil scowled and folded his arms. “It’s Sunday.”

 He sighed as he met an unyielding stare, and got up to go to his room.

 “Wait up, Virgil.” Logan said, grabbing Virgil’s arm as he entered the hall.

 “What?” Virgil deadpanned.

 “I…I’m not the most creative person, and I think you know Carrie a little better than I…” He told him his idea, and asked for his input.

 Virgil grinned, seeing a way around Patton’s order to change out of Pyjamas.


	14. Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan is a nerd (ily) and uses his family night for stargazing.

 Carrie opened her door at Roman’s knock, and he was glad to see her in her ‘everyday’ wear, and not in her pyjamas.

 The outfit she had settled on asking Roman to create was slightly more on the ‘fanciful’ side than she would usually opt for…but she hardly had to be worried about public humiliation or derision. She had white tights on, underneath an off-white flowy dress that had a sweetheart neckline. The second piece of the outfit was another layer: what looked like a blue coat on the bodice turned into another layer of skirt once it reached her waist. The coat had gold buttons on and was trimmed with white. She had based it off the costumes for the revolutionary soldiers in the musical _Hamilton_. The look was completed with a pair of black pumps, with a slight heel (at Roman’s insistence).

 “Good Evening, Rapunzel!” the Prince postulated, bowing deeply. Carrie couldn’t help but giggle.

 “Hello Pascal.”

 Roman gasped and put his hand on his chest in mock offence.

 “How dare you?” He snapped his fingers and his whole image changed. “I am obviously Flynn Rider!” He was in fact, literally Flynn Rider. Carrie blinked, thinking again about how she would never get used to this.

 “Careful, or I’ll hit you with a frying pan.”

 Roman changed back with a smug smile. “I’m here to rescue you from your tower!”

 Carrie shifted awkwardly. “I dunno Roman…”

 “It’s _family_ night, you have too, or Patton will drag you there.” He rubbed his neck with a chuckle. “Trust me…it’s not pretty.”

 Carrie dithered for another moment, before accepting the Prince’s offered hand. He grinned and practically pulled her along to the kitchen, where the other three were all standing in wait.

 “Okay…close your eyes Logan, and grab my hand…” Roman said.

 Logan followed the instructions, and after a moment, Roman broke free and snapped his fingers…

 They were all on a grassy hillside. It was night, and obviously mid-summer by the smell of the grass and the warm night-air. Virgil leant over and whispered into Roman’s ear.

 Roman giggled, and snapped his fingers again…

 His arms were suddenly filled with material, which Virgil grabbed and started handing out…

 Carrie started to laugh as she accepted her blue bundle as she clicked what was happening. After a minute of shuffling and movement, the group settled into the grass, safe and warm in their respective onesies.

 Patton in a Pooh Bear onesie.

 Logan in an Owl onesie.

 Virgil in a Piglet onesie.

 Roman in a Tigger onesie.

 And Carrie, in her Eeyore onesie.

 She didn’t say anything, but her eyes were full and the grin on her face nearly stretched from ear to ear.

 They lay on their backs in a five-point formation, with their heads next to each other. They all gazed at the stars, as Logan excitedly rattled off random bits of information. Whenever he pointed out a star or formation, it seemed to shine slightly brighter.

 They others were relatively quiet, other than Patton’s noises of “oooh” and “ahhh”, and his occasional puns. Though the atmosphere was relaxed, after a while Carrie realised that her heart was sinking, and that she was silently crying.

 Virgil was the first to notice, being right next to her. Logan on her other side was too excited about sharing his knowledge to notice. Virgil frowned, and gazed up at the sky, confused.

 Carrie didn’t make a sound, but her wet cheeks shone slightly in the dim light from the stars.

 Virgil searched his mind frantically, trying to figure out what could possibly have triggered her…

 Carrie sat up slowly, and hugged her knees, refusing to look anywhere but the ground. She felt guilty, as if she was throwing their consideration and effort in their faces…but she just wanted to go back to her room.

 No…she just wanted to go home.

 Virgil reached the same conclusion at almost the exact same time, as he gazed up at the northern hemisphere sky.

 “Hey Roman, how about we check out the Southern Hemisphere sky for once, eh?” Virgil whispered to Roman, who was on his other side. Roman looked at Virgil, then to Carrie’s back, and seemed to understand.

 “Hey Carrie…would you show me what your sky looks like?”

 Carrie froze, cursing herself for being so obvious. She leaned back down silently but extended her arm into the middle of the circle, squeezing her eyes shut, and Roman did the same. After a moment of holding hands…she heard the four sides gasp in unison.

 Opening her eyes…she let out a small laugh.

 There it was.

 Her sky…her stars.

 “I never knew there could be so many to the naked eye…” Logan said, slightly in awe.

 Virgil nudged Carrie, and she understood.

 “This is what the sky looks like at Onepoto Bay, where my family have a holiday bach…er…I’m not sure what Americans would call it…a home, anyway. It’s about as far east as you can go, very little cell-phone service…it’s the beach I painted in my room.” She cleared her throat, blinking more tears from her eyes.

 “What’s that?” Patton asked, voice small.

 “That kite shape? That’s the Southern Cross…it’s part of what early Pasifika navigators used to chart course to New Zealand…that’s the Milky Way…” Carrie rattled on, and the sides settled in. After a moment, a distinctive bird call broke off her explanation of the seven stars that made up the Matariki formation and the legend around the seven sisters and the Maori new year.

 “What was that?” Virgil asked, suddenly alarmed.

 “Ask Carrie, this is based in her memory.” Roman answered, though also sounding on-guard.

 “Oh my god…I think…” It cawed again. “Yeah, that’s a Morepork, a native New Zealand bird.” She was laughing now, feeling sad, but a happy sad.

 ‘ _More-pork’_ it continued to caw.

 “Well it must be hungry!” Patton chuckled, earning a few groans. “We know it isn’t a vegetarian-”

 He was cut off by Logan sitting up and yanking the hood his Pooh Bear onesie down over Patton’s face.

 They lay there for a long time, watching the sky, listening to the soundtrack of the New Zealand coast at night, and squealing in delight whenever they saw a shooting star.

 Carrie fell asleep there, on the grassy hillside, underneath the stars. For pretty much the first time since she arrived in the mindscape…she started to dream.

 It was subtle, but she could distinctly hear whispers…two beams of light…a high-pitched screeching…the distinct feeling of panic, then…

 A comfortable silence, almost as if someone had thrown a blanket over her mind.

~

 Roman picked up Carrie’s sleeping form as the sides prepared to leave the grassy hillside. He grinned at the sight of her peaceful smile, but Virgil frowned.

 “I’ll put her to bed.” Roman whispered to the others. Logan took one last look at the brilliant array of stars and sighed as they faded away into the white void.

 “I do believe that went well.” Logan said as they appeared in the kitchen, adjusting the hood of his Owl onesie. Roman left, his Tigger tail swishing comically as he walked.

 “You look SO GOOD in pink!” Patton gushed to Virgil, who shrugged and gave a smirk.

 “What the Lady wants, she gets.”

 They said their goodnights, it now being nearly midnight.

 As Roman tucked Carrie in, he couldn’t help but chuckle and snap a picture of her cuddling her smaller Eeyore in her matching onesie.

 He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and he swung around, conjuring his sword and standing in a fighting pose, to find…

 No one was there.

 Roman frowned, but conjured a comfy armchair. It was positioned with its back to the side wall, so that he could watch Carrie, her bedroom door, and the bathroom door all at the same time.

 It was probably being overkill, but one thing Virgil had taught him was when to trust his instincts. Roman conjured a coffee, and reclined into the comfy chair. The hours slowly ticked by, and still Roman kept up his vigil.

 He grew increasingly uneasy as the night went on, there seemed to be…whispers…though he couldn’t discern exactly what they could be saying.

 Eventually the Prince’s head drooped onto his chest, and he started snoring lightly.

 The Watcher cocked their head, evaluating the exhausted Prince, and restraining the urge to mess with him. They had a plan, and that would be much more fun in the long run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This was actually the original inspiration for this fic - I had a dream about this scene pretty much, and it all stemmed from that!


	15. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little more real for Carrie and Roman is EXTRA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Period, blood mention (light), vomiting (not really described)

 Carrie woke in pain, and sat up with a cry, clutching her stomach. She startled the sleeping Roman, who leapt up with a war cry and started brandishing his sword. Carrie’s brow furrowed in confusion as she swooned slightly.

 “Roman…what?” She coughed, the room spinning.

 “Ms Fern! What ails you? Are you okay?” Roman rushed to her bedside, and Carrie suddenly knew what was about to happen.

 “Buck…BUCKET!”

 Roman conjured one just in time to save the bed spread. He winced as Carrie retched, and noticed that she was crying.

 “Shhh….” He rubbed her back awkwardly, and pulled the hood of her onesie back to make sure it stayed out of the line of fire. He quietly tied her hair back, and conjured a large bottle of water for her to use when she was finished. “I’m going to get Patton…he’s better at this stuff…”

 “No…” Carrie coughed and spluttered. “Don’t wanna…urgh…be a bother…” The bucket made her voice echo slightly, and Roman couldn’t quite help but liken her behaviour to Virgil, the few times he had been sick.

 “It’s no bother.” Roman insisted, leaving the door slightly ajar. He changed his calm swagger to a hurried run once sure he was out of her line of vision…it was morning…so the kitchen was the best bet.

 “PATTON!” He cried as he burst in, and swallowed a little guiltily as all three of his fellow sides jumped out of their skin.

 “PRINCY FOR GODS SAKE DON’T DO THAT IT IS SEVEN IN THE MORNING.” Virgil moaned grumpily, cleaning his spilt cereal from his hoodie.

 “Carrie is ill.” Roman ignored the grumpy side, and Patton instantly leapt up and followed Roman, the other two tagging along in concern. He burst into Carrie’s room to find that she was bent double, shuffling to the bathroom. Virgil and Logan looked away awkwardly, having twigged to what might be happening. Patton ran over, and helped her into the bathroom. Roman, was a little clueless. He looked to the red that was on Carrie’s pyjama shorts…to the blood that could be seen staining the exposed bedsheets…

 “YOU’VE BEEN STABBED!?”

 “You _really_ are an ignorant -”

 “ _God’s sake_ Princy have a lil’ class -”

 Virgil and Logan’s simultaneous critiques were cut short by Carrie’s laughter from the bathroom.

 “Roman you’re adorable.” She giggled, in spite of the pain.

 Roman blushed as he clicked, and covered his embarrassment by snapping his fingers – changing the sheets and erasing the bucket.

 The three sides retired to the living room, and started debating how best they could help.

 By the time Patton came in, supporting a very white, but grateful looking Carrie, they were met with Logan holding a hot-water bottle, Virgil offering a steaming mug of hot chocolate, and Roman putting the final touches on the living room: he had made the couch longer, and extended the base so it looked more like a couch/bed hybrid. 

 “Now put your fanny down there, little miss and don’t you worry about a thing.”

 “My WHAT?” She spluttered, looking totally floored at the paternal side as he lowered her down and covered her in a blanket. Virgil covered a small giggle. She blushed as she remembered. “Oh right… _Americans_ …”

  Carrie shook her head at Patton’s confused expression, _praying_ that he didn’t press. To try cover her awkwardness, she accepted the gifts instead.

 “I suppose that answers one question.” She laughed weakly, in response to Logan giving her the hot water bottle.

 “Indeed, Ms Fern.” He smiled warmly, remembering the discussion they had had on her second day here. Virgil silently left, Logan presumed to check on Thomas, but for now he just sighed.

 “I’ll be really pissed off if I am actually dead.” Carrie said conversationally, sipping at the hot chocolate. “I would be like ‘ _THIS IS THE BAD PLACE’_.” She chuckled, then stopped quickly as she winced in pain. The others looked uneasily at each other.

 “Please don’t just stare at me.” Carrie complained, after a moment of silence. “This is a normal part of being a girl, it’s just a really sucky part.”

 “Now kiddo, no need for that kind of language.” Patton chided, taking a seat on the couch next to Carrie. She giggled in response. “You feeling any better now?”

 “Yeah…Nah.” Carrie grimaced. Logan blinked, and quickly added that phrase to his vocab cards. He had a whole section now solely on Kiwi slang.

 Roman left to go get changed into his usual royal attire, and Logan sat down at the end of the couch. But Patton noticed that for just a moment…the blanket Carrie was cuddled up under pulsated…and suddenly became translucent. He blinked hard, and saw nothing. He cleaned his glasses wearily, sure that he just imagined it.

~

 “What did you say?” Joan looked at Thomas confusedly, who frowned in response.

 “I said ‘ _chur_ ’?”

 “What does that even mean?”

 Thomas just shrugged and covered up his worry with a smile.

  _It was probably nothing…Logan did say Carrie was teaching him Kiwi slang…surely if his logic learned something, he subconsciously learned it too?_

 Joan was talking again, and with effort, Thomas pulled himself back into the present.


	16. Yellow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A villain finally shows his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of period pain, mentions of death, slight panic, mild violence, Deceit has finally turned up 16 chapters late with StarBucks.

 The next few days went past in a blur of pain for Carrie, and she spent most of her time hunched over a toilet bowl.

 Thomas had been more than a little weirded out by the prospect when Virgil had first told him.

 “I feel like I’m going crazy.” He admitted, massaging his temples gingerly. He just didn’t want to think about it anymore…it was too weird.

 Virgil nodded sadly, feeling pretty lost on what to do. He had given Carrie the picture he had made with her on her first full day in the mind palace, and she had hung it above her bed. He was growing accustomed to having a neutral third party around, who he could hang out without worrying too much. But…if she was actually alive…that changed things. Surely, a period could indicate that?

 Virgil didn’t like to see others in pain, so had tried – in his own way – to cheer Carrie up. He brought art supplies to her room, and together they calmly drew in a comfortable silence, listening to Virgil’s music. Carrie was a big fan of Twenty-One Pilots, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and Green Day, which were all favourites of the dark side and rarely appreciated by the others.

 Anything that didn’t involve moving too much or talking was fine by Carrie, though there was an awkward moment that resulted from one of the songs playing.

_And if your heart stops beating_

_I'll be here wondering_

_Did you get what you deserve?_

_The ending of your life_

 Virgil hummed lightly along to the lyrics but stopped when he felt the atmosphere get a little colder. Looking up from his patch on the floor, he saw that Carrie had gone a little white. Virgil scrambled to grab her bucket, but the movement broke her out of her stupor.

_Have you heard the news that you're dead?_

_No one ever had much nice to say_

_I think they never liked you anyway_

_Oh, take me from the hospital bed_

 “Oh…thanks dude. I’m feeling okay, it’s just…” She gave a strained groan, and Virgil felt his hands start to sweat and his breathing hitch with panic. “This song hits a little close to home.” She laughed and shook away the thoughts in her head.

_Tongue-tied and, oh, so squeamish_

_You never fell in love_

_Did you get what you deserve?_

_The ending of your life_

 Virgil groaned, and started reeling off an endless line of apologies, while Carrie tried to assure him that it was fine, and that _Dead_ was actually one of her favourite MCR songs and she still enjoyed it and she wasn’t upset and she shouldn’t have said anything and it wasn’t your fault and it’s okay it’s okay it’s okay…

 He was slightly more mindful of what exactly was on his playlist from then on.

 Roman’s response to the whole event had become a running joke, however.

 Patton would spread jam on his toast at breakfast, then look up in shock and say: “I’VE BEEN STABBED!?”

 Every time Virgil passed him in the hallway, he would point to the Prince’s red sash and loudly exclaim: “YOU’VE BEEN STABBED?!”

 Logan had tried to jump on the bandwagon, but as usual found it irresistible to tweak the phrase.

 “YOU’VE BEEN IMPALED!?” Was his response to the Prince spilling strawberry jelly on his shirt.

 “Did you just quote Frozen?” The Prince bit back, now rather thoroughly over the joke.

 “No.” Logan grumbled.

 “You nearly did.” Patton said with a giggle.

 But every night, Roman conjured an armchair, and slept in Carrie’s room. He could not shake his uneasy feeling, and Carrie didn’t seem to mind, so he saw no harm on being thorough.

 Patton also couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that had lodged in his stomach since the blanket incident. He also kept a close eye on the girl, and started to check upstairs almost every day.

 Carrie was relieved when the period passed. She hadn’t liked feeling so needy. The first time she left her room however, she got a bit of a shock.

 She had changed into her blue Hamilton-inspired outfit, but as she stepped out…it started to fade off her. Carrie let out a strangled yell, and jumped back into her room, closing the door.

 Looking down…the outfit looked fine. Carrie opened the door, and just stuck a leg out this time. Sure enough, the tights started to fade instantly.

 “HEY MMPH -” Carrie began to call out for assistance, but felt her windpipe close. She coughed, and looked around. Her room was empty, but she didn’t feel alone.

~

 Carrie arrived late to dinner, which was the first odd thing Patton noticed. The second, was that Carrie was wearing the pink princess dress they had found her in. She looked a little dazed, and very tired.

 “You feeling okay kiddo?” Patton asked, his voice forcibly cheery.

 “Umm…yeah.” Carrie shook her head, as if trying to clear it. Sitting down, she grabbed a bowl of spaghetti and began to tuck in. After a moment, she noticed that all four sides were staring at her. “I’m sorry…it’s been an intense few days…and Roman snores really loud…” She frowned a little, wondering why she had felt the need to say that. Roman was now shifting awkwardly underneath a classic Patton-stare.

 Virgil narrowed his eyes slightly.

  “I do apologise, Ms Fern.” Roman sighed. “I was just concerned, I will refrain from joining you tonight.”

 Carrie didn’t seem to hear.

 The five finished dinner in silence, then Carrie bid her goodnights.

 The four looked at each other.

 “Something’s not right.” Virgil said, eventually.

 “It could just be the hormones from the previous few days?” Logan offered, sounding unconvinced.

 “She’s twenty-two, not fifteen.” Virgil said grumpily.

 “You are the last person to criticise someone for acting like a teenager, Marty Mc’ _Cry_.”

 “I’m trying to say that you are in the right here, Princey.” Virgil bit back.

 Roman paused, looking legitimately shocked. “Thank you…Verge.”

 There was silence, and Patton started to clear up. Logan disappeared to his room to document this latest development.

 “I’m going to stay up, and check on her every now and then.” Roman said suddenly, looking at Virgil to gauge his response.

 Virgil and Patton shared a look. Neither wanted to invade her privacy, but their sole duty was to make sure Thomas was fine. They both nodded sadly, and went to bed without much more discussion.

 Roman changed into his Tigger onesie, and settled in with a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. It seemed to be the place where he would be least likely to succumb to sleep, but even then, he found his head drooping occasionally…

 Roman woke with a start, and with a curse jerked his head up from the table, grimacing at the pool of drool he had created. He jumped up after looking at the clock, and carefully hurried down the hall.

 It was already 5:30 am. How could he be so careless to shirk his duties?

 With rising trepidation, the Prince slowly opened the yellow door at the end of the hallway. Roman breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Carrie snuggled in her bed, looking content. He conjured his armchair in its usual spot, and closed the door quietly. He had barely sat down when he tensed.

 “I always did admire your stubbornness.”

 Roman stood quickly, sword in hand. The voice belonged to a side clad in black and yellow, who had just appeared before him. Carrie stirred, but the intruder waved his gloved hand towards her and a translucent wall sprung up between them and her.

 “Deceit.” Roman hissed through gritted teeth.

 “Good evening, Roman. You look very dashing in your Tigger costume, I must say.” He smirked.

 “Thank you.” Roman wasn’t one to reject a compliment, no matter who it came from. “What are you doing here?”

 “Well, you can’t seriously expect me not to be curious?” Deceit laughed, looking at the sleeping guest with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Also, the colour scheme of the room was practically an invitation.”

 Roman looked around at the patches of yellow wall that Carrie had yet to paint.

 “Do you know anything about this?” Roman asked suddenly.

 Deceit shrugged. Roman rolled his eyes – the man was maddening.

 “You know, there are some gentlemen upstairs who would _love_ to welcome this parasite.” Deceit turned his head to the door, showing Roman the snake side of his face. Roman swallowed.

 “We don’t need any trouble. She isn’t a danger to Thomas.”

 “Oooh, is that a challenge?”

 “Leave, before I kick your ass.” Roman growled and took a step forward, ready to fight.  

 “I’m shaking in my boots.” Deceit drawled, looking unimpressed. The room shook a little, and Roman looked around wearily.

 “What are you doing?” He tried not to sound panicked, looking to Carrie. His split-second lapse of concentration provided an opening for Deceit.

 With another flippant wave of his hand, Deceit sent a force that threw Roman backwards. He grunted in pain as his back hit the wall, falling down into the armchair he had conjured and dropping his sword with the impact.

 Roman groaned, as he lifted his head…

 Behind the wall Deceit had conjured that cut him off for Carrie, was a flickering light…

 It pulsated, once…twice…thrice…

 Roman felt himself being picked up again by Deceit’s invisible force, this time being dragged forward. As he struggled, he saw a familiar face form from the pulsating light…

 He gave a yell as Deceit opened Carrie’s bedroom door, and he tipped his bowler hat as the force threw Roman unceremoniously into the hallway…

 His last image was Deceit waving a sarcastic goodbye as he flew through the air, as behind Deceit, Roman could see a very confused Thomas looked around wildly, clearly panicked. Roman hit the opposite wall and slid down, unconscious, still in his Tigger onesie…as the yellow door slammed shut.

 Virgil sat up in his bed, drenched in sweat, and started to have a panic attack.


	17. In the Hallway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sides help Roman and Thomas, Carrie gets a visit from snek boi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Virgil is having a panic attack at the start, Deceit is in this chapter.

 Virgil scrambled out of his room and into the hallway, gasping for breath, and clutching his chest. His fists were opening and closing erratically, and every now and then his body twisted and spasmed violently. Through his bangs (which were plastered to his sweaty forehead), he saw Roman’s crumpled form at the end of the hall.

 Trying to quell a cry, and desperately trying to draw breath, he slammed into the light blue door across from his with his shoulder, then threw himself back and slammed into the dark blue door that neighboured his purple. Virgil crashed to the floor and crawled over to the unconscious Prince, his shoulder and back now aching just as bad as his lungs and chest, but allowed himself to relax slightly upon seeing his counter-parts chest rising and falling.

 “He’s alive.” Virgil breathed, and looked up as he heard footsteps.

 Logan and Patton appeared into the hallway from their respective rooms almost at the same time, both looking at the two younger sides in shock. Logan grabbed Virgil and started to aid him with his breathing, and Patton pulled the Prince into a recovery position and started checking him over.

 “I thought Thomas was just having a nightmare.” Virgil panted, almost to himself. His face was ashen, but he was starting to get a hold of his panic in the face of the unknown. “Go check on Thomas, I’ll be fine.” He said firmly to Logan. Logan nodded, gave Virgil and encouraging smile and sank out, trying not to look at Roman’s form.

 “I think he’s just unconscious…” Patton murmured. “As far as I can tell, he just hit his head…he’ll be fine, if a little sore.” He looked up to where Virgil was sitting, now resting against the wall. “What do you think happened?”

 “Thomas…Thomas was having a nightmare…” Virgil shivered, closing his eyes as he tried to remember. As Thomas’ anxiety, he unfortunately often got a front row seat to whatever nightmare his head occasionally churned out for him. They weren’t events he enjoyed watching. “He was driving…there were two beams of light…I think…” Virgil took a steadying breath, and Patton rubbed his arm in a comforting manner.

 “But then he just…disappeared. I don’t know what happened, but something’s not right.”

 Logan reappeared in the hallway, straightening his tie. “Thomas is awake and seems to be functioning correctly.” He frowned. “Has anyone described Ms Fern’s room to him?”

 Patton and Virgil shook their heads. It had been a decision they had made at the start, to say as little as possible about certain parts of Carrie, so they could judge if her influence was growing in Thomas’ mind.

 “He indicated that he was enduring a nightmare, then suddenly he was in a yellow room, with a beach mural on one wall, looking down at a sleeping woman in an Eeyore onesie, clutching an Eeyore toy.” Logan tried not to show how scared he felt. “I am going to check on Carrie.”

 “Be careful Lo.” Virgil grunted, starting to shiver.

 Patton retrieved a wet cloth from the kitchen, and laid it on the Prince’s forehead. They looked up as they heard the sound of a door knob being jiggled.

 “It’s locked.” Logan called, and Virgil started tapping his foot. Logan frowned at the door, then started knocking louder. “MS FERN? ARE YOU IN THERE? CARRIE?”

 Roman started to stir, and Logan gave up, re-joining the group huddled at the end of the hallway.

 “What…?” Roman blinked blearily, squinting his eyes and shifting gingerly.

 “Shhh…you’re okay…you’re safe…” Patton soothed, as Roman sat up and rubbed the back of his head gingerly.

 “Thomas…Carrie… _Deceit_ …” Roman panted, trying to string together his scattered thoughts into a coherent sentence.

 “Thomas is fine, I have just returned from checking on him.” Logan said quickly, as the red-faced Prince pushed himself up onto his knees, leaning on Patton’s shoulder to do so.

 “Carrie?”

 “Her door is locked.” Logan looked away at the Prince’s look of horror and shame.

 “Okay…we know Thomas was in Carrie’s room…what he told Logan and what Roman witnessed is proof enough for that.” Patton frowned, helping a shaky Roman to his feet. “But he is safe in his own body now…”

 “Do you think she’s becoming…more real? In a way?” Logan asked, remembering the severe pain she had been in during the last few days.

 Patton frowned, remembering the blanket.

 “I’m going upstairs.” He muttered, almost to himself.

 “No.” Virgil took a shaky breath and shook his head. “No, we can’t split up.”

 “Finding Emo is right, Patton.” Roman sighed, gingerly flexing his sore back. “They will want us to do that. They want Thomas…Carrie will be fun for a short time…” he shivered, but ploughed on. “…But just as we have our duty to Thomas…they have their plans for him also.”

~

 Carrie woke to find Deceit looking down at her hungrily. She felt severely hungover…and her breathing grew erratic as she realised that she couldn’t quite recall the night before. Her head felt murky, and though she felt she was already acquainted with the snake-faced villain before her, she couldn’t pinpoint from where.

 “Good Morning, Ms Fern.” He smirked, showing his teeth. Carrie sat up and clung to her duvet, unable to take her eyes of the yellow snake eye glinting at her. “Do you want to be a real girl again?”


	18. Temptation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deceit messes with Carrie's head, something big goes down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Deceit being a manipulative d*ck, breathing issues, panic, car crash mention, tears.

 “I think your little obsession with Eeyore is A – DOOR – A – BLE, by the way, sweet heart.” 

 Carrie narrowed her eyes.

 “Have they been treating you well?” Deceit started to pace along the end of her bed. Carrie didn’t trust herself to speak. “Hmm…usually I delight in stealing voices, but…”

 Carries hand flew to her throat, and she gave a surprised gasp as it started to squeeze.

 “…When I ask a question, I expect to be answered.” Deceit growled. Carrie gasped desperately, before finally nodding. She coughed and spluttered as her hand fell away.

 “They have been lovely.” She managed, wondering if she could somehow get to the door before he stopped her.

 “Well everyone has to be nice to the dead.” His tone was light, but Carrie felt the blow land, her eyes watering slightly. “Now, we can make a deal, I think. I have a spare body you can use…you just have to ask the owner to politely agree to share.”

  _Thomas._

 “No.” The answer was easy, though she couldn’t say she wasn’t tempted.

 “It’s going to happen anyway dearest.” He sat on the end of her bed, and Carrie recoiled even more. “Haven’t you noticed? You’ve started to become more solid. You’ll end up squeezing both your souls to death…well, to Thomas’ death at least. You’ll be two for two at that point…”

 Carrie took her chance, desperately flinging the duvet upwards with all her might. She jumped over the tangled side and ran for the door.

 She slammed into it, and stepped back in a daze. Carrie frantically tried to open it, banging and yelling but instead she heard…laughter. Her heart sank. It had been too long – he would have untangled almost instantly. The only reason she had made it to the door was because he knew it wasn’t going to open.

 “You can’t force me to do anything.” Carrie said to the door, refusing to turn back around.

 “I know that.” Deceit sounded very close, and Carrie considered putting up a fight. “I just want you to feel more… _at home here_.”

 His voice had changed, and Carrie spun round with a strangled whimper…there stood her Mum. Barely a foot away.

 “Do you miss me?” She cooed. Carrie gaped, trying to fight through the cloud that had just descended on her mind. She couldn’t stop the tiny nod, or the tears from running down her cheeks.

 “Shhh…” Her mother soothed, taking a step forward and closing the gap. No – not her mother… _Deceit_. Why did that detail seem to just not make sense to her? “I’m disappointed in you, you know. If you _really_ missed me…if you really loved me…you would take the nice man up on his offer. Come back to me, darling. Come back home.”

 She held out her hand, and Carrie noticed vaguely that she had forgotten how to breathe… 

 Her mother clicked her fingers, and suddenly Carrie was driving…it was late…she should probably take a break…but she desperately just wanted to be home…she was crying but Carrie couldn’t remember _why_ …had something happened?

 Her head snapped up as the car crossed the centre line…two beams of lights were approaching…she swerved…tires screeched, horns honked…

 “STOP!” Carrie screamed. Looking down, she found that she was suddenly in jeans, white converse shoes, and an old Star Wars shirt. Her room was now…the New Zealand bush…crushed undergrowth showed the path a rogue car had taken down the hill from the road, and turning slowly, she saw that instead of a door…a crushed car. Her car. Her crushed car.

 “What are you trying to achieve?” She hissed, unable to relax her jaw.

 “I’m trying to remind you how _real_ you are.” He was back to Deceit, and Carrie couldn’t look away. The yellow snake eye was almost mesmerising. “You are in someone’s head, Carin.”

 “How did you -”

 “Come off it, I know a lie when I see one.” He picked at his chin, appearing to be bored. “Do you really think they will allow you to stay once they figure out you’re _here for good_?”

 Carrie thought of Logan, of Roman, of Patton…of Virgil. Their kindness in the face of the unknown.

 “I know I’m real.” Carrie said, must more confidently than she felt. As she took a step forward, the crash scene melted away into her room once more. Her comfortable clothes faded into the pink princess dress. “But that doesn’t mean I’m entitled to jack-shit. They have to look after Thomas, which is what you should be doing. Now leave me ALONE.” Carrie balled her fist, and made to strike, but froze. She looked around wildly, trying to move, trying to speak, trying to do…anything.

 The corners of Deceit’s mouth curled up in an amused sneer, and slowly raised his gloved hand up. With his teeth, he pulled the glove off, revealing a scaly hand which would have made Carrie recoil if she was able to…

 “I see Patton’s been helping you out with your vision…probably Logan’s idea…wouldn’t want you flipping out, now, would we?” He gently laid his index finger on Carrie’s sweaty forehead. “That should help you see.”

 Deceit began to laugh as Carrie felt a _whoosh_ of air from behind her as her door swung open. With a flick of his wrist, Deceit sent Carrie flying backwards into the hallway, her throat finally opening up to allow her to cry out…

 She slammed into someone and heard them grunt, but she couldn’t make head nor tail of the situation. Everything seemed blurry…she felt trapped in a pink tornado of fabric…and her head _hurt_.

 She could hear someone calling her name…but it was like they were underwater…or was she underwater?

 “WHAT DID YOU DO?” Roman yelled, as Deceit waltzed into the hall. Logan hurriedly pulled Virgil out from underneath Carrie, who was blinking furiously and looking around blindly.

 “Made her see.” He was talking to Patton, who paled. “And you lot call _me_ the liar…”

 Carrie groaned, and the five pairs of eyes turned on her. Deceit conjured an armchair and a bucket of popcorn and sat back with a laugh. Roman stood protectively in-between him and the others, sword drawn…

 Virgil bit his lip as he started stroking her arm. Logan was opening and closing his mouth furiously, at a loss for words…

 Patton knelt down next to the girl, and soothed her, muttering an endless stream of comforting words in an effort to calm her down.

 “Is she…flickering?” Logan asked suddenly.

 Carrie looked around wildly, and whimpered. “There’s too much…it’s too much…” Her surroundings faded into an endless stream of numbers, images, and words. She could no longer feel carpet beneath her or see walls - she couldn’t breathe…

 Roman roared, and tried to strike Deceit, but his sword hit a barrier and Deceit just giggled.

 “Why are you doing this?” Logan asked, getting very upset.

 “He wants Thomas.” Virgil said through gritted teeth.

 “Any minute now…” Deceit sang.

 Carrie started flickering more intensely…and with every pulse…a similar flash would occur right beside her…just enough for them to recognise a familiar face within the light…

 Logan sank out with a cry, as he went to try help Thomas stay grounded in the real world.

 Virgil gripped Carrie’s hand.

 “You’re not okay.” He muttered. “But we will help you. Deceit is a liar. He wants you to think there’s no hope for you…he want’s you to see-” Virgil groaned as he was cut off and sent flying, hitting the wall opposite head first, and slumping down unconscious. Patton gave a cry and went to help, before he was sent flying too.

 Roman grit his teeth and crawled over to Carrie, grabbing her hand and focusing hard on the memory of the stars she had shared with him…

 Carrie shuddered, then stilled. Roman looked up, heart in his mouth, unsure of what was happening.

 “Come on Rapunzel, don’t let me down now. Hang in there…” He muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

 “Rapunzel you say? I’d be more inclined to say Alice…” Deceit was cackling and with that he disappeared with a flamboyant twirl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace your butts sh*ts about to go down


	19. Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a small breather.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Panic, sad, Deceit mention, threat if violence, minor swears

 Carrie took a shuddering breath and shot up as if she had been shocked by electricity.

 “I SAW THOMAS!” She yelled, her hand flying to her head, her chest heaving. “I saw Thomas…but he was in a mirror…”

 Not even Virgil jumped at her sudden movement, nor reacted to her statement.

 They were in the living room, the window showing an early morning sunrise. She was on the couch, Logan was in his armchair, Roman was staring out the window, Patton was standing in the kitchen doorway, and Virgil was hunched on his spot on the stairs.

  _You’re surrounded._

 “Yes, we have gathered that you managed to slip to the forefront of Thomas’ mind for a moment, Ms Fern.” Logan said, his voice odd. Carrie looked at him, and he wouldn’t meet her eye.

 “I…I what?” Carrie hid her shaking palms in her armpits, trying not to feel suddenly cornered.

  _All the exits are blocked._

 “You possessed him.” Patton said softly. Carrie felt like she was going to be sick.

 “Who…who was that?” She whimpered, remembering the other side, wanting to change the subject to anything else.

  _You are a danger to Thomas._

 “Deceit.” Roman hissed, brushing his fingers against his sword in its scabbard subconsciously.

 “We think…we think he wanted you to start believing that…that…” Patton struggled, and Carrie felt suddenly calm.

 “To start believing that I was alive?”

 No one would look at her.

 Carrie looked down, trying to hide the tears that had suddenly sprung up. Her hands had stopped shaking, she just felt numb.

 After everything she told herself, how Carrie had tried to convince herself of the worst possible outcome…it still didn’t prepare her for this.  

 There was an awful, long moment, where she grappled with it all.

 Then her face crumpled, and her shoulders caved.

 “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” She sobbed, thinking of her family, her friends, her _life_. Patton rushed forward for a hug, but Carrie jumped up and fended him off. Patton bit his lip, his glasses misty from his own tears, but stayed a respectful distance away. No one else dared to move.

 “I’m…I’m _twenty-two_ …I was an okay person…I wasn’t perfect, but I tried my best…” She gripped her fists and stared into nothing. “I was going to change the world…I was going to create and act and write and study and work and I was going to _lead_ …”

 Carrie didn’t know what the point of it was, it was as if she was bargaining with the grim reaper himself. As if the sides had a say in her fate.

 “I was going to help people…I was going to get better at surfing…I was…I was…” Carrie drew a haggard breath, her face red and blotchy. “He…he turned into my _Mum_.”

 Carrie held herself, sobbing and whimpering and feeling broken. Roman shot a look at Logan, who was biting his lip, his eyes full of pity. Princey took a step forward, and summoned Eeyore from Carrie’s room. He gingerly held it out to the snivelling girl, only looking up to see Virgil frantically waving his hands to try and signal him to stop, before it was too late: Carrie saw it and broke down further. She lowered herself to the ground, still hugging herself, and sobbed even louder.

 “It’s not real.” Logan said gently, reaching an arm out and pulling the shocked Roman back.

 Roman looked truly conflicted and shaken, barely stopping his own bottom lip from quivering pathetically.

 Virgil still hadn’t uttered a word. The guy looked terrible. Having such a large panic attack so early in the morning wasn’t exactly a good look – he was exhausted. He fiddled with the sleeves on his hoodie and refused to meet anyone’s eye.

 “We probably should have told her about Deceit…” Logan muttered, Patton nodded furiously.

 Carrie froze, and Roman could almost see the light bulb go off above her.

 She looked up, her face suddenly fearful, he watery eyes wide.

 “He…he knew my name.”

 “It is possible he overheard one of us talking about you, but he generally has access to Thomas’ knowledge so it’s not a big-” Logan began.

 “No…no I mean, he knew my _old_ name.” She was looking panicked now, glancing from one trait to the next. “The name I was born with…it was Carin…but I changed it…I thought ‘Carrie’ sounded better…I didn’t tell any of you that…”

 Virgil’s face darkened considerably, which the others would have thought impossible. You could have heard a pin drop in that room.

 “Shit.” Logan said, his eyes sparking with a hypothesis. “Do you think-”

 “The missing week.” Virgil croaked.

  Carrie blinked, and suddenly shot up with a cry. She lost her balance, and Patton lunged forward to steady her.

 “I saw…I saw Thomas again…” She was stretching her eyelids now, trying with all her might not to blink. Virgil and Logan stood from their spots, drawn in by concern. Carrie started to shake again. “I don’t want too…please believe me that I don’t want too…”

 “Shhh…Think of the stars, Ms Fern…” Logan said softly, trying to distract her.

  _Stab her._

 Roman jumped as an invisible whisper blew into his ear. He looked around frantically and gripped his sword.

  _You have to protect Thomas._

 “No.” He said firmly. He would protect Thomas with everything he had, but there surely had to be another way…

  _She is going to hurt Thomas. STAB HER._

 “Roman what are you doing?” Virgil said, suddenly tense at the sight of Roman drawing his sword. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. “Shit. He’s here again…”

 Carrie blinked again, and her knees gave in to her panic. Her breathing was now erratic, and Logan and Patton were both rubbing soothing circles on her back…

  _They’re not real._

“Stop it…” Carrie muttered, wishing she could try blocking it out by _closing her eyes_ but she knew she couldn’t…

  _Nothing in this space is real._

 “Don’t Blink Carrie!” Logan urged, and Carrie swallowed hard at the Doctor Who reference…

 Her body felt like it was on fire, she stared at the carpet…

 “Oh no…” She gasped, as the carpet faded like it had done in the hallway. “It’s happening again…”

 “STOP IT DECEIT!” Roman yelled, swiping his sword at nothing. Virgil didn’t have the energy to spare to tell Roman why that could be a bad idea…

 “I REFUSE!” Carrie screamed.

 There was a flash of incredible bright light…

 Then everything went dark.


	20. Upstairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sides are in trouble, and Thomas gets to finally meet the girl in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: The story is going to get a little dark for a bit, please be warned. In this chapter there is mentions of blood, allusions to torture, and burning flesh.

 “I don’t know what happened, she just disappeared…”

 “Why on earth did you have to play with her like that?”

 “…I was curious.”

 “Really well done. Fantastic. You’ve screwed everything up and lost her.”

 “And where the heck is Thomas?”

 “No clue, man.”

 “For GODS sake why do we always hand the important stuff to this guy?”

 “Beats me, maybe deep down we wanted to fail…”

 “HEY! We did NOT fail…I’m not exactly sure what happened, but we definitely accomplished…something. And for now, …we have these guys to have fun with?” Deceit sounded a little desperate, and it was this odd note in his voice that finally got Logan to open his eyes.

 He wished he hadn’t.

 They were upstairs…the dim light and dark surroundings were proof enough of that. Deceit and two other sides were huddled in the middle of the room, sitting cross-legged on the ground. It would look innocent, but in light of the four sides held captive around the room, it looked more sadistic…they were blasé to the pain around them.

 Logan was tied to a chair in one corner. Virgil was chained to the wall, hanging off the ground in the opposite corner. Adjacent to him, Roman was in a straight-jacket and behind bars, making a triangular prison for him. Opposite from Roman was Patton, who was slumped, still unconscious, but seemingly unrestrained. The father’s traditional blue shirt was streaked with red. The walls were decorated with various T-Shirts, and Logan counted at least 9…

 “I anticipate that your definition of ‘fun’ departs from the traditional interpretation.” Logan muttered, his head still foggy. What had happened? He had been with Carrie and the sides…then…

 Nothing.

 “Hey smart-arse still lives!” Deceit clapped his hands, grateful for a chance to turn the subject away from himself.

 “That wasn’t even a good nickname.” Roman growled, struggling in his binds.

 “Shhh you.” The man in a purple suit, reminiscent of something the Joker would wear, held up his hand. A sock appeared and shoved itself into the Royal’s mouth, who spluttered and coughed. “Where’s Patton when you need him? I’m sure he could have made some stupid joke out of that.”

 “He would never joke when someone’s being hurt, Greed.” Virgil hissed, his voice gravelly.

 “I’m getting bored.” The last of the trio complained, wearing a grey tracksuit.

 “Why now?” Logan frowned, trying to piece everything together. “Why attack now? Where is Thomas? And Carrie?”

 “We _were_ a little miffed that you lot stole our toy.” Greed admitted, almost sadly contemplating Logan. “We don’t bother you lot when we’re occupied. And Carrie was so much fun…someone had to pay for that. I must admit, we were slightly curious as to what would happen if she was in your hands.”

 Virgil shivered, making his chains rattle. Logan scowled, hating that his hypothesis was correct.

 “That missing week…”

 “…was spent hanging out with us.” The tracksuit guy said, reclining lazily back.

 “Apathy you’re lying.” Virgil gasped, trying to control his breathing.

 “Hmmm…not really my gig eh.” Apathy regarded Virgil, almost as a fat cat regards an annoying mouse. He waved his hand, and the chains began to glow a bright red…

 Virgil grunted, and Logan had to look away, though he couldn’t block out the horrendous _sizzle_ , nor the stink of burning flesh.

 “ **Stop…stopstopstopstop STOP**.” Virgil’s voice was terrifying, echoing loudly around the small room. Apathy let his hand fall, and Virgil slumped, the chains grey once more.

 “It’s more fun with a human anyway.” He grumbled.

 “This isn’t the first time this has happened, is it?” Logan asked suddenly, desperate to get the attention away from Virgil and onto him. The three dark sides looked at each other gleefully…reminiscently…

 Logan felt sick. He suddenly knew the chains and cages weren’t holding their first victims.

 “They appear, every few years. We didn’t really question it at the start, just thought that Roman was sending us toys to distract us. So, we…well we wanted to show him exactly what we thought of that by _really appreciating them_.” Greed walked over and winked at the royal side, who was fast turning red from the effort of trying to free himself. “When we figured out they were real people…”

 “Well, we couldn’t let them hurt Thomas. That wouldn’t be in our interest.” Apathy sighed.

 “So, we break them down until they can be flushed away.” Deceit’s snake eye twinkled malevolently. “Thomas can go on living in his own body, and we can focus on turning him into the person he should be. It’s a win-win.” 

 “Why did you let Carrie go?” Virgil grunted, mustering what energy he could summon to look up.

 They were silent.

 “She got away!” Logan laughed, revelling in their sudden awkwardness. “You don’t have a clue what went wrong.”

 “Careful there, Specs. That tie of yours can become a noose _real_ quick.” Greed growled, approaching Logan, grabbing his tie and pulling it to further illustrate his threat. Logan coughed as his neck was dragged down.

 “What’s – _cough_ – What’s your plan here?” Logan tried not to let the quiver of fear enter his tone, very aware that Virgil and Roman were both watching him. Roman was struggling fruitlessly, but Virgil’s body was loose in his chains.

 “Well…Thomas is floating around here somewhere, could be fun to see how he likes us without you four pushing your noses in…” Apathy yawned.

 “Until we find him and _her_ , we will just have to warm up on you.” Deceit cracked his knuckles.

 “There’s only three of us, and four of them.” Apathy pouted, looking around with minimal interest. “One at a time? Let’s have Ro-Ro first…”

 “Ohhh, good point Apathy.” Greed cooed, suddenly looking much to happy. The three shared a look and seemed to have a silent conversation and Deceit began to darken the corners of the room. “Apathy, you have five minutes with Patty-cake. Deceit, Logan’s all yours. I’ve got the Girly and the Freak…though I’m not sure which one’s which…”

 “Don’t quote Doctor Who.” Logan hissed, desperately trying to keep them mad at him. Logan started to panic as he felt his throat close oddly.

 “You guys up for a little challenge?” Greed completely ignored Logan, gesturing to Roman.

 The three dark sides attacked the light, as Roman’s straight-jacket and prison faded away. He leapt up, and had the dilemma of who to save first, and how, with no weapon.

~

 Thomas blinked at the bright white lights that surrounded him. He groaned and pushed himself up off his stomach into a kneeling position.

 He felt like he had been hit by a truck, to put it lightly.

 Thomas jumped as he heard someone stir beside him and pushed himself back onto his hunches. It was Carrie.

 She too, started struggling to get up and Thomas felt a swoop of pity crash through his fear.

 “Here.” He held out his hand and he stood himself. Carrie eyed him wearily but accepted. Thomas pulled her up, and they stood there awkwardly for a moment.

 “Where are we?” Carrie finally asked. Thomas bit his lip and shook his head.

 “I was hoping you may be able to tell me that.” He managed to give her a smile but ran his fingers through his hair nervously. Carrie returned the smile and held out her hand.

 “I’m Carrie Fern, pleased to finally meet the Boss.”

 Thomas laughed and shook her hand. “Sometimes I wonder about that.”

 The two stood there, both with thoughts running through their heads, but no words escaped.

 “So…what now?” Thomas asked finally, after what felt like an age.

 Carrie just grimaced, then smiled sadly back.

 “I was hoping you may be able to tell me that.”


	21. A Little Side-Tracked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dark sides undermine a light side. Thomas and Carrie talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of blood, broken bones, pain, swears, violence, sorry bois

 “Oh look. You broke him.” Apathy laughed as he kicked Roman in the stomach, where he was lying on the ground, panting and crying. “That was a good idea guys, I gotta admit. Maybe this _could_ be more fun with more people?”

 Roman just shivered, not wanting to look up out of fear, shame, and pain.

 How was he always the one so easily duped by these people? Whenever they seemed to go up against them, he was the weak link. And they knew it.

 They hadn’t harmed his family…but for those awful moments…Deceit had conjured a pretty convincing mirage.

 And Roman had frozen.

 Indecision.

 He didn’t save any of them and had got his arse kicked in the process. His ribs felt cracked, and he was coughing up blood. There was a ringing in his ears…their screaming. He couldn’t get it out of his head…

 “What are you?” Greed asked, with the tone of someone talking to a dog.

 Roman mumbled something. Apathy kicked him again.

 “I didn’t catch that.” He growled.

 “What are you?” Greed repeated, still in that condescending, simpering voice.

 “A FAILURE.” Roman croaked, breathing heavily in pain.

 Deceit grabbed him by his shirt and hoisted him up. When had he gotten so strong?

 “Where is Carrie?” He growled.

 “I don’t know.” Roman grunted. Looking around, he panicked slightly. The corners of the room were shrouded in shadow, and he couldn’t see his family.

 “Let me jog your memory then.” Deceit closed his hand around Roman’s throat. “Bring her to me, and we will release the others. This is her fault anyway. If she hadn’t run away, you wouldn’t be in this situation right now. And you better hurry. If we all die, it’s your bloody fault.”

 Roman swallowed, trying to think…he couldn’t think…he didn’t know what to do…his head hurt…his ribs hurt…

 Deceit opened his hands and let the Prince go. Roman sank to the ground like a rock, his legs unable to hold him. “Huh. Okay, maybe we did actually break him.” He snapped his fingers and the darkness in the corners lifted. “I expected a little more from him, if I’m honest.”

 “STOP, PLEASE.” Logan cried, finally realising he could be heard. His voice was hoarse from yelling fruitlessly as he had watched from the side-line. Roman twitched on the ground, but otherwise lay still. Deceit regarded him.

 “Okay Logan, you’re up.” He snapped his fingers…and Roman disappeared. At the same time, Logan felt his ropes melt away. Virgil looked terrified, at this point his throat had closed over and he couldn’t make a sound…

 “Where is he?” Logan balled his fists and stood up. The three sides standing before him looked amused.

 “Just having a nice dream.” Deceit hissed. Logan gulped.

 “I do not have any idea where Ms Fern, or Thomas is.” He said truthfully, fixing his tie. “I don’t even have any relatively convincing theories.”

 Apathy looked surprised. “I thought we were going to have to do a little more to make him accept he wasn’t fit for purpose.” He complained.

 “Well I guess he _is_ the boring one.” Greed regarded Logan thoughtfully.

 Logan folded his arms, unimpressed. “That the best you can manage? I have a theory. You three are out of your depth and do not know what you are going to do next. You are stalling for time.”

 “I thought we’ve been pretty open about that one, genius.” Greed sneered. “We are just biding our time…”

 “And you’re calling _me_ boring?”

 “Logan…no…” Virgil groaned.

 “Logan yes!” Deceit laughed.

 “I’m bored.” Apathy complained. The other two groaned. “What? Messing with people beyond what was planned is how Deceit lost the bitch in the first place. These guys obviously are bloody useless and don’t know anything valuable.”

 “FINE. Chuck ‘em all away. We are wasting time anyway.” Greed grumbled. Logan’s heart jumped into his throat. That hadn’t exactly been his plan…

 Deceit punched him in the gut, and Logan fell back against his chair, wheezing and spluttering.

 “We’ve been doing you lot a bloody favour all this time.” Deceit growled, looking legitimately annoyed. “We’ve protected Thomas from all these parasites and allowed you and your precious _PADRE_ to keep your hands clean.”   

 “Thomas is in DANGER.” Greed pointed out.

 “YOU WERE MESSING WITH HER.” Logan roared. “YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE YOU’RE DOING THIS FOR THOMAS WHEN YOU DROVE HER TOWARDS WHATEVER THE HELL IS HAPPENING?”

 Deceit kicked Logan in the chest, and the movement sent both him and the chair flying backwards, Logan hit his head hard on the ground, and ceased moving.

 “Looks like we’re down to two!” Apathy sighed. “Logic wasn’t being any fun anyway.”

 “Leave Patton alone…take me…you know how fun I can be…” Virgil groaned.

 “Fellas…I think I know how we can get to Thomas.” Apathy drew close to Virgil, narrowing his eyes. “Follow his heart.”

~

 “So, do you think we are both dead or something?” Carrie asked, trying to be nonchalant.

 Thomas looked up, a little perturbed by the candid tone. “I…I don’t know…I don’t feel that way…it feels like the other times I have visited the mind palace…” He trailed off, looking around, hoping to see anything but endless white.

 “That’s good to know.” Carrie nodded, looking around too. “I suppose we just have to wake you up.”

 “WAKE ME UP INSIDE!” Thomas sang, Carrie jumped, but grinned.

 “I CAN’T WAKE UP.” She said, in the deepest voice she could manage.

 “WAKE ME UP INSIDE!”

 “SAAAVVVVVEEEEE MEEEEEEE!”

 They dissolved into giggles.

 “Seriously though, if your gut says we’re in your head, you needa get out, like now.” Carrie said, not unkindly. “What even happens if you’re in your own head too long?”

 “Erm…I’m not sure. I’ve never spent more than around 20 minutes at a time here. Logan had a theory that…that if I stayed too long I could ‘compromise the integrity of the manifestation’ or something.”

 “…like…this would, what…break down?”

 Thomas nodded, then felt a sharp pain in his chest.

“Thomas?” Carrie took a shaky step back, Thomas was suddenly bent over, groaning in pain. “Thomas, how can I help you?”

 “I don’t…” He gasped, clutching his chest and trying to regulate their breathing. “My heart…not to be dramatic… _arghhhh_ …I think my heart is breaking…”

 Carrie blinked, before she clicked.

  _Patton._

 “So, you are definitely still connected to them while you are inside your own head?” She spoke quickly, trying to sift the panic out of her head and ground herself in the truth. “They’re trying to find you…you’re still linked, so we _are_ in your head…”

 Thomas fell to his knees, and Carrie rushed forward, only for Thomas to wave her away.

 “I don’t know…what’s happening…” He panted, looking at the ground.

 “White spaces…usually represent a void, such as the edge of where Roman has defined or the dream scape…he usually fills that void…” Carrie fiddled with her hands, before kneeing in front of the boy in pain in front of her. “Thomas…I need you to focus really clearly on a spoon.”

 “ _A SPOON?_ ”

 “Trust me.” She fretted. Anything bigger could strain him, but she had to test her theory.

 It took a few moments, but eventually a fork appeared in Thomas’ hand. He blinked and looked at it in surprise.

 “Close enough.” Carrie muttered. With a gasp, Thomas dropped it and fell forward in pain, Carrie catching him before his face hit the white floor…

 No…not the white floor…

 Cream floor.

 “Take my hand.” Carrie gasped. “They’re coming…they are getting you to create a surrounding, so they can physically access us…you can’t let them-” The rest of her sentence was cut short by her hand flying to her mouth…

 Thomas screamed…and two sides appeared before them.

 Carrie felt relief flood her system.

 “Patton!” She cried, getting up and running to give him a hug.

 “Well, hiya kiddo, glad to see you in one piece!” He squeezed back, a little too hard. He felt cold, and Carrie frowned.

 Roman knelt next to Thomas, who gripped onto him, steadying his breathing. His cheeks were slick with tears, but he smiled at his fanciful side.

 “Where’s…?” Thomas coughed, noting how his pain had started to ebb away. Roman grunted as he helped him up.

 “Virgil is in his room, Logan is researching what this place could be. They are both dandy.”

 Thomas looked at them both, hard.

 “I want to go see them.”

 Patton blinked. “Kiddo? Roman said they’re fine. You need to focus on waking up, it’s already been much too long.”

 “Yeah Thomas, you’ve already been through a lot. You need to get back to the real world.” Roman added, glancing at Carrie as he did so.

 She suddenly felt a swoop of guilt and envy.

 “Go Thomas.” She shoved the thoughts away. “There’s already too much going on in your head without you being here too.”

 Thomas bit his lip.

 “Okay…” He sighed, and Roman punched him affectionately in his arm. “But come check on me later…all of you, okay?”

 Carrie closed her eyes as Thomas faded, and felt the environment shift around her.

 “Okay boys.” She didn’t want to open her eyes, but instead pictured how relieved Thomas had looked to be getting out. “So: where are the real Roman and Patton?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh sorry I love our bois and this is how I show it??


	22. The Rule Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carrie finds the sides, and a plan is set in motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Okay so this is probably where the worst of it is. Major gore (though spoiler alert, it’s fake.) the torture is not described, just the aftermath. Vomit, choking, panic attack, blood.

 “Just get this over with.” Carrie was tired, and finally opened her eyes to see she was in a dark room.

 Roman and Patton stood there, looking at her warily, before sharing a look.

 “You’re no fun.” Patton stuck out his tongue, before changing back into Deceit.

 “Hello Princess.” ‘Roman’ chuckled, before turning into Greed. “Looking pretty in pink.”

 Carrie looked between them and took a deep breath. “Where are they?” She repeated firmly.

 “They weren’t doing their jobs.” Came a voice from behind her. Carrie gasped and struggled as two hands clenched her shoulders and forced her down onto a chair…ropes magically snaking their way around her and securing her. Apathy came into view, cleaning the grit from underneath his nails.

 “What do you -”

 “They were letting you exist.” Greed shrugged. Carrie felt her stomach churn.

 “They were being kind.” She sobbed. “Where are they?”

 Deceit bent down, so that they were just about nose to nose. He gripped her face and looked at her with amused eyes.

 “You don’t remember us, do you?” He almost seemed…disappointed. Carrie gulped and shook her head – as much as she could in the grip of the yellow glove.

 “Hmmm. So, do we feel like starting fresh boys?” Deceit let go of Carrie roughly, and stood back a little. He had the air of a man who was contemplating what to eat for dinner.

 “Now might be a good time to go talk to Thomas though.” Greed pointed out. “While they’re…occupied.”

 “He’ll make the right decisions regardless.” Carrie spat, struggling fruitlessly.

 “He does seem to be under more strain with the parasite making such big waves.” Apathy pointed out thoughtfully, completely ignoring her. “Maybe we were wrong all these years just getting rid of them instantly?”

 “THEM?”

 “Yes, shhh, keep up.” Deceit waved his hand dismissively, sending a force that toppled Carrie’s chair backwards. She felt a sharp pain in the back of her head as it slammed against the floor, and she blinked stars out of her eyes before freezing.

 She now saw Patton lying in the corner behind her. Carrie screamed.

 Patton was smiling vacantly, but that was the only peaceful feature of his body. She couldn’t see a spot of his traditional blue shirt…it was completely red.

 Above where his heart should be, was a cartoon-heart-shaped _hole_. In his limp hand by his side sat his heart.

 Carrie started to choke on her vomit as she remembered Thomas’ words…

  _My heart his breaking…_

 “If we want her in one piece we’re going to have to make her chill out a bit.”

 Carrie didn’t know nor cared who spoke. She was shaking and crying and choking on bile and she couldn’t breathe and…

 …And the chair was being lifted up, so she was once again upright with Patton unseen behind her.

 “You look beautiful like that sweet heart.” Deceit laughed. “But Patton is fine. Well, fine- _ish_. That was just a little present for Virgil, you weren’t meant to see it. Had to make Thomas feel some strong feelings to find you two.”

 Carrie squeezed her eyes shut and just sobbed, trying to stay grounded and failing spectacularly.

 “Chuck her in with them, let’s go see Thomas.” Apathy decided, already growing bored again.

 Deceit snapped his fingers…and Carrie was suddenly falling…

 She hit the ground hard, and finally gave into her panic. She couldn’t make head nor tail of her surroundings, and her chest heaved as she desperately scrabbled for breath. It felt like something was trying to climb out from her lungs and was choking her in the process.

 She jumped as she felt a set of hands pull her into a hug, and slowly she closed her eyes as her mind was washed with a calming sensation…

 Patton held an unconscious Carrie, while biting his lip and sharing a very scared look with Virgil.

 “Did you see that thing…too?” Patton managed, eyebrows knitted together in worry.

 Virgil just nodded silently, a little in awe.

  For just a moment…it looked like something was trying to get _out_ of the pink princess.

 Patton hugged Carrie’s form tighter as she slept. The girl looked exhausted, her face was blotchy, and her dress was stained.

 Virgil avoided looking at her, choosing to look at the ground instead. He had barely calmed down himself…and Patton’s actual heart had broken to see his dark strange son witness something as awful as… _that_.

 Patton repressed a shudder. It had been disconcerting enough watching them do it to the double, but at least he had _known_ it wasn’t real.

 “Do you think they were right?” Roman mumbled, also not making eye contact with anyone. He was curled up as tight as he could be, hugging his knees and sitting. His own face looked rougher than Virgil had ever seen it – usually Princey wouldn’t be seen dead looking anything but his best.

 Logan was the only one still out cold.

 “I…I don’t know dude.” Virgil admitted shakily, biting his lip.

 “This only happened because Deceit was clouding her thoughts.” Patton said firmly, gently rocking the sleeping girl. “That’s what he _wants_ us to think. To doubt ourselves and our capabilities to influence Thomas correctly.”

 “But…why? This has happened before, apparently. I just…”

 “Nine times.” Logan grunted, his face scrunched in pain. He made no effort to sit up but managed to prise his eyes open. “My hypothesis is that nine souls have somehow been trapped within Thomas’ mind, and if their account is to be believed, the others…disposed of them.”

 “Nine…” Roman croaked, trying not to shake. He was meant to be the brave one…but today he had failed to protect his family. And apparently, he had failed to protect Thomas and these lost souls _nine times_.

 “The T-Shirts.” Virgil said softly, to which Logan inclined his head slightly to indicate his agreement.

 They were silent, save for Patton’s quiet sniffling, Carrie still held tight in his arms.

 The situation was grave. They were locked away in some far corner of Thomas’ mind, and the others would be sure to use this to their full advantage: trying to influence Thomas to listen to them more than he currently did. 

 Roman got up and walked off, moodily folding his arms and hunching over.

 Virgil lay back beside Logan, staring into the never-ending abyss. He was forcibly reminded of their last family night, when they were in a similar position…looking at the stars…

 “You were really brave there, Lo.” Virgil muttered, careful to make sure the Prince wouldn’t hear. He rubbed the burns on his wrists slightly, wincing.

 “I was out with one hit.” Logan replied, a little sharper than he meant to. His tone was bitter, and he closed his eyes again. His head hurt so badly, and he suspected that he would also have a large bruise on his stomach.

 “Hey, come on…it was at least two hits.” Virgil tried. Logan smirked in spite of himself and then let out a sigh.

 “How did they locate Ms Fern and Thomas?” Logan kept his eyes closed, but he felt Virgil tense beside him and Patton give a sharp intake of breath.

 “They…they used me.” Virgil said quietly, hugging himself tighter. “Made me feel…a lot of feelings…”

 “…and used your distress to locate where Thomas was. So, he must have been in the mind somewhere…still connected…Carrie must have been there too?” Logan groaned, once again grappling with a situation that made little sense to him and which would have once seemed impossible. “I don’t like this new rule book Virgil; can I return it?”

 Virgil sat up suddenly, an odd look on his face.

 “Oh god, Virgil please don’t tell Patton I made a Dad-joke, I’ve had enough torture for one day-” Logan groaned, putting his arms over his face.

 “Rule book…” Virgil muttered, looking around wildly as if he was literally trying to catch his scattered thoughts. “Logan, you remember when we first appeared to Thomas.”

 “Correct, I was there, and my memory is impeccable.”

 “No, I mean…” He hugged his knees, and looked down, biting his lip. “What did you conclude about Thomas? About why it was happening?”

 Logan’s eyes flew open, finally cottoning on to Virgil’s train of thought. “My theory on Imagination Manifestation?”

 Patton looked up with watery eyes, his brow creased. Virgil nodded, and watched Logan’s eyes start to spark with inspiration.

“You think Carrie might be like Thomas too?” Logan asked, wincing as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

 Virgil nodded slightly, thinking of their first time hanging out. “She had called her Eeyore a…a friend…maybe when she was a kid her imagination was stronger…he could have manifested in a way…even if it was only in her head?” Virgil was struggling to figure out what he was trying to say.

 “That’s not a lot of information to make any form of accurate conclusion on, but assuming my theory is somewhat correct…given the trauma of the vehicle collision, perhaps her mind strove to protect her as a defence mechanism…” He wrung his hands in thought.

 “Could that mean…” Virgil began.

 “Am I alive?” came a small croak.

 The three started slightly, looking down at Carrie. Her eyes were still closed, but her mouth had curved into a frown and her brow was furrowed – the only indications that she was awake.

 Logan bit his lip and looked away. His eye’s rested on Roman’s figure in the distance, he was sitting with his back to them some way away. There was still so much unanswered, so much to be considered and weighed and thought-through.

_No body had been found._

_She had displayed a very clear need to create and influence the world around her._

 “Where’s Roman?” Carrie croaked, shifting a little in Patton’s arms. The three sides looked nervously over to where Roman was crouched. His head cocked a little to the side, and it appeared he was talking to himself.

 “Cut the dramatics Princey, now is hardly the time to get caught up in yourself…” Virgil’s voice was soft and not unkind, but Roman gripped himself a little tighter. He got up gingerly, barely hiding his grunts of pain, and Virgil recoiled slightly as Roman limped back over to join them, his face impassive.

 “Sure.” He croaked, not looking at anyone in particular. “Ms Fern, we are going to get you out of here.”

 “You have a plan?” Logan asked hopefully.

 “Really? Thank You, Ro…thank-”

 “Don’t.” He grunted. “This has gone on long enough.” The Prince looked hurt. His face was black, blue and red, and his eyes lacked its usual cartoonish sparkle.

 “Kiddo…what?” Patton whispered, looking to the Prince with concern. 

 “You all have been trying to figure this out…all of you…and I just…I just had _fun._ ” He was looking at Carrie like she had betrayed him, confused and hurt and determined. “Once again I thought of nothing and no one but myself and you all have suffered for it. Her creative drive matched mine…I didn’t want to see it…”

 “What are you saying Roman?” Logan asked, trying not to sound like he was trying to rush the obviously distressed side.

 “She-” Roman’s hand clapped onto his mouth with full force. Virgil winced at the sound, but Roman didn’t even muster the energy to look annoyed or surprised. He just rolled his eyes and waited for a moment for his hand to fall slack. Logan tried not to look at the red hand mark on Roman’s face. “She must be a manifestor too, and she is going to get out of Thomas’ head…but first we are getting out of this god-forsaken kingdom.”


	23. A Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman must uphold his end of a deal he's made with the Dark Sides, one with very serious consequences for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, threats, manipulation, attempted self-harm, violence.

 Thomas shifted awkwardly in his usual spot for videos in the living room, the three sides before him looking sombre. There was an odd buzzing in his ear, and usually he would be very suspicious but…he wasn’t.

 Thomas was quite relaxed, bordering on uncaring.

 Patton, Virgil, and Logan all stood in their usual spots, as they sadly recounted their tale.

 “We can go get him if you want to see him…I’m sure he will be up to it.” Patton frowned, looking with concern to Thomas.

 “We should not subject him to unnecessary strain given his current state.” Logan pushed his glasses further up his nose.

 “It’ll make Thomas feel better to see him.” Virgil croaked from the stairs.

 “I just…never realised.” Thomas said softly, running his hand through his hair, thinking hard. “I…I love you all so much…I know you’re me, but you’re also so much more…you know?”

 Patton was nodding furiously, tears spilling from his eyes. “We love you too, Kiddo.”

 “Okay…I’m ready to see him.”

 The three sides shared a look, nodded, then each raised a hand to Roman’s corner.

 Roman rose up and immediately stumbled and fell to the ground. Thomas swallowed hard at the sight of his creative side. Roman looked like he had been through hell, covered in blood, his usually immaculate appearance marred by imperfection. He raised his head slightly and locked eyes with Thomas who looked…a little repulsed. Roman sighed and relaxed into a sitting position, not trusting his legs to support him.

 “Dude…” Thomas was unsure how to react, he had never seen anything like it. “Are you going to be okay for now? I still haven’t made my decision…”

 Roman felt their eyes on him, and he tried to ignore the threatening squeeze on his insides. He looked around, thinking how much he had enjoyed what they had achieved in this space, and how different the atmosphere was now.

 “Why didn’t you tell me this was what was happening? YouTube…talking to you guys…I’m not sure it’s worth it if this is what it does to you Roman.”

 Roman gasped and clutched his stomach as he felt another squeeze – harder this time. He tried to grit his teeth, but that just allowed Thomas to see the blood in his mouth…

 “Okay, I’ll do it.”

 Roman coughed as he felt the pressure ease off him. He didn’t want to look at the others…despite the looks of sympathy and gravity plastered on their faces he could feel their sense of victory bubbling away beneath their stolen faces.

 He didn’t try to hide his tears, and he couldn’t move to wipe them away either. He knew this sight would just spur Thomas on, but…

 This was the right thing to do.

 It was the only thing he could do.

~

 Virgil cursed as soon as Roman flickered and disappeared.

 “Shit.”

 “Language-”

 “Patton, he wasn’t talking to himself over there…”

 “They were talking to him.” Logan looked floored, and more than a little hurt. “He’s made a deal, hasn’t he?”

 “We’re supposed to be a team.” Virgil growled, springing to his feet and pacing. “Fine. We are getting out of here now.” He started to look around for anything, anything that could be used as a sharp object.

 “We are not going down that road kiddo.”

 “Don’t call me kiddo, it worked for them it can work for us.”

 “What are you talking about?” Logan felt an awful feeling bubbling away in his stomach.

 “They carved Patton’s heart out in front of me. It was fake, obviously, but I was stupid enough to believe it and they were able to connect with Thomas through those feelings.” Virgil was now considering the zips on his hoodie.

 “They…they what?”

 Virgil wouldn’t meet Logic’s eyes.

 “It doesn’t matter, you’re not hurting yourself or anybody else kiddo.”

 “Don’t call me kiddo.”

 Carrie shifted awkwardly, too tired to really comprehend what was happening…and too out of it to comprehend why she was getting flashes of the sides in a living room…

 Virgil abandoned trying to tear the zip ends off his hoodie and approached Logan instead.

 “Gimme your glasses.”

 “Don’t be ridiculous…”

 “Kiddo…”

 “I said, gimme your glasses…”

 “Virgil there has to be another way, Roman has obviously set something in motion…”

 “Kiddo…”

 “CALL ME KIDDO ONE MORE TIME.” Virgil screamed, rounding on Patton. Tears were flowing down his dirty cheeks, further smearing his eye makeup. “Why can’t you just let me help? Roman was allowed to abandon us at his first chance to go be a hero. Why don’t…” His fists were clenched, and he was breathing haggardly.

 “Virgil.” Patton said, firmly holding the boy’s gaze. “Stop.” His voice was quiet, but Logan blinked – shocked at the authority and gravity Patton’s tone held. Virgil was still breathing heavily, but he sat down moodily. Logan breathed a sigh of relief.

 “I think…I think I’m leaving…” Carrie muttered, feeling like she was floating on air.

 She pulsed.

 Once – Patton gave a yell and tried to hold her tighter.

 Twice – Logan, ignoring his headache, jumped up and moved over to the pair.

 Thrice – Virgil watched as Carrie faded away into nothing, leaving Patton alone holding a voluminous pink princess dress.

~

 “Please let me go back to them.” Roman moaned. He had been dumped on the floor in his room, rather unceremoniously. He still couldn’t find it in himself to stand or even move, so he remained lying face down on the carpet. Apathy and Deceit had elected to ‘hang out with him’, while Greed (as Logan), showed Thomas around the mind palace. Sure, he’d been there before, but he hadn’t truly explored it.

 “Hmm…no.” Apathy grinned and kicked Roman in the side with enough force to flip him onto his back. Roman didn’t bother hiding his yelp of pain – his room was soundproof. “They aren’t too happy with you, and at the moment I’m not sure that you could handle going head to head with the light brigade.”

 Roman spat out some blood that had pooled in his mouth, carelessly staining the cream carpet.

  _Could he actually die?_

_It felt like he might._

 “Fine.” He said quietly, blinking tears out of his eyes. Usually anything these people said he would take with a grain of salt, but this he knew would be true. They would all be disappointed at least, in him. “How long is this going to take?”

 Deceit looked thoughtful as he stroked his chin with his yellow gloved hand. “I really don’t know. Hopefully quick, don’t want her running around for too long in our body after all.”

 Roman shifted awkwardly.

 “I made the right decision.” He muttered through gritted teeth. “I made the best decision.”

 He did truly believe it, but it didn’t make losing the connection they had with Thomas any easier to bear.

~

 Carrie looked at herself in the mirror…no, his mirror. She blinked, and her reflection blinked. She tousled her short brown hair that was tinged with purple…the man in the mirror tousled his short brown hair that was tinged with purple…


	24. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman must grapple with the decision he's made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, pain, tears

 Carrie stood in the centre of the living room and raised her hand like Logan had once described to her.

 No one answered her call.

 “Let the record show that despite literally possessing his body, his mind is still completely separate to mine.” She said to the empty room at large. Carrie wasn’t sure whether she felt relieved or crushed.

 On one hand, it meant that maybe there was still hope for Thomas to get this all fixed.

 On the other hand, she could really have used a friend.

 She sat down on Thomas’ couch and awkwardly crossed her legs, staring at the blank television.

 “Now what?”

~

 Roman grunted as he tried again – focusing all his concentration on trying to hone in on Thomas’ hurt and anger…

 To hone in on Patton and Virgil and Logan.

 They would be pissed, but they deserved to have the chance to say goodbye.

 Deceit and Apathy had left to have dinner with Thomas – Roman felt like being sick at the thought – and had left him tied to his four-poster bed. It stretched his broken body cruelly, ensuring he would be in constant pain. On the canopy above him was an endless reel of awful images…images he prayed weren’t true…they couldn’t be true…

 “You promised you wouldn’t hurt them.” Roman sobbed to no one in particular. It was no use closing his eyes…the images in his own head were far worse. They could think up some awful things…but as creativity…those ideas blossomed forth like flowers of blood.

 He focused in again. Roman was desperate.

~

 “Look…if they have Roman…” Logan stuttered, trying to not jump to conclusions about Carrie’s sudden dramatic exit. “Not to be indelicate, but it is likely he is in some kind of pain…”

 “GOOD.” Virgil roared, slamming the ground with both fists. He was shaking with rage and hurt and fear, crouching on his hunches. There were tears on his cheeks.

 “…you didn’t mean that.” Patton croaked, shaking his head profusely.

 “No.” Virgil croaked, feeling guilty now too.

 “My point is…try to hone in on him.” Logan was upset at the prospect of using Roman’s pain for their escape, but he would at that to his growing list of things to work through when everything was over.

~

 Roman broke down further when he heard three soft ‘ _pops_ ’.

 “IT WORKED!”

 “Shit…Ro…”

 “Help me untie him!”

 Roman blinked blearily as he felt three sets of hands release him from his binds. As soon as he was free, Roman curled up and twitched a little.

 His ribs hurt like hell. He groaned as he heard the door jiggle.

 “doors locked…” Roman slurred, his tongue swollen. “Are you…are you yourselves?”

 “They must have taken our forms…managed to appear to Thomas while we were out of the way…”

 Roman felt his bed flex a little underneath him and he grunted in pain. Patton and Logan had climbed onto his bed, and Patton began fixing Roman’s hair best he could.

 “Kiddo, I know you’re in a lot of pain right now…” Patton coaxed gently. “But…could you tell us what happened there? I promise we’re not mad.”

 Roman distinctly heard Virgil scoff.

 “Thomas is here.” Roman’s words tumbled out and he squeezed his eyes shut – scared if he met their eyes his courage would fail. “I think…I think Carrie is in Thomas’ body at the moment…but I don’t think it will be for long.”

 Roman started to cough, retching out more blood, he opened his eyes just to have his vision swim.

 “If he spends too long in here…it would be bad, right?” Virgil asked Logan hesitantly. Logan’s eyes were wide as he figured out what exactly Roman had knowingly sacrificed.

 “The manifestation…it will break down. Thomas will not be able to forget that this is technically not real, much like when the brain sees an image in a different light – they cannot ‘un-see’ the new neurological interpretation…oh Roman…”

 Patton’s grip grew a little tighter on Roman’s arm.

 “Why would they want to cut us off? That includes them…” Virgil sounded measured.

 “said we were too powerful with faces.” Roman shivered, remembering how Deceit had threatened to carve his face off when he had demanded the others be let go. “They’re evening the playing field.”

 “What do we do?” Patton asked.

 Logan was white, running through every possibility in his head.

 “I…I don’t know.” Logan croaked hopelessly.

 “Don’t let them know you’re here…” Roman begged, trying to push himself up suddenly. “Please hide…I think they’re coming…” His voice was panicked, and the sides scattered, just in time to hear a sarcastic knock on the door.

~

Carrie fixed herself a sandwich and grabbed some water, trying to use as little resources as possible. She actively avoided mirrors and reflective surfaces.

 The first bite tasted like heaven…it tasted _real_. She couldn’t help but release a small moan.

 It was early evening, and Carrie craved a shower, though she felt even less comfortable engaging in that activity…maybe she could wash with underwear on?

 Carrie shook her head and put her face in her hands desperately – how on earth had she managed to end up in a WORSE situation than before.

 The tears were coming again, and Carrie found she just felt like falling into bed. Leaving the dishes in the sink and climbing up, she tried to ignore the pictures of random faces on the walls…overwhelming evidence that she was foreign here. She didn’t belong.

 Carrie crashed on Thomas’ bed, in Thomas’ body…but didn’t feel comfortable getting under Thomas’ sheets. She curled into a ball and shivered instead, entering into a fitful sleep.

 Her dreams were filled with thoughts of home, and she craved any sense of safety she could glean from them.

 At some point in the night, there was a small flash of light, and an old Eeyore appeared, clutched into the girls’ arms, and she unconsciously snuggled into the familiar friend, face buried in the scent of her childhood.


	25. The Turning Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carrie finds some potential allies. Roman has a rough day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, violence (also Spoiler alert: Major violence at the end)

 Deceit strode in with a confident air that made Roman’s stomach twist. He prayed that he wouldn’t look too closely at his binds – which had been hurriedly retied – nor look too closely at his crumpled duvet.

 “We want to speed this up, and we need your help.” Deceit’s yellow eye glinted and Roman closed his eyes. “Why drag this out?”

 “Okay.” Roman muttered, feeling spent. He had nothing left in his tank. All he cared about now, was protecting the three sides hiding under his bed.  

 “Now I sped Carrie along by whispering shit to her all night, but we don’t have the luxury of time. We need you to create an environment for Thomas to exist in so he can start to see how imaginary it is.” He was smug, fiddling with the hem of his cape as his gaze searched over Roman’s body, enjoying the beads of sweat and blood on his forehead.

 Roman felt his heart starting to beat quicker. His family were safe...what was stopping him now? He bit his lip.

 “Okay Lie-tenent. Untie me and let’s get this over with. I’m sure I can create something to help end this.” Roman hoped...he prayed that the others would heed his clue and stand down for now – stay hidden. A plan was starting to form in Roman’s foggy mind.

~

 Carrie was buzzing as she walked down the street, still wearing the clothes from last night (which she had slept in) and couldn’t help but look around with wide eyes and a childish grin.

 Different ground...different houses...different sky...

 “Different road rules.” She muttered as she nearly got hit crossing the road.

 It was so unreal...but it also felt like no different at all. Surely a different country would just feel inherently different?

 Carrie was fighting a battle with the tourist within herself. She had compromised by allowing herself a walk around the block – Thomas still needed exercise, right? – though she was sorely tempted to do more.

 “With what money though?” She muttered, trying to push her dreams of Disneyland and Harry Potter World away.

 She refused to touch a cent of Thomas’ money – though she didn’t even know if she could access it if she did want to, she didn’t know any of his pins or passwords. Carrie had briefly considered using her online bank account, but if she was missing it would set off a whole lot of red flags. She didn’t want to give anyone false hope, and really didn’t want to connect Thomas to her disappearance at all.

 Rounding the last corner, Carrie saw that there was a car in Thomas’ driveway and she froze at the sight of two people knocking on his front door. Her breath caught in her throat.

 “Shit.” She muttered and threw herself into the bushes next to her…though Carrie had a nasty feeling that she had been seen. She worried her lip between her teeth as she heard footsteps – god how was she going to explain jumping into a bush?

 “Thomas? Is that you?”

 “You okay dude?”

 “Ahhh…” Carrie tried to sound nonchalant, as if Thomas usually spent his downtime jumping into his neighbour’s foliage. “Yeah, I just tripped, that’s all.”

 Two pairs of hands reached in and Carrie took a steadying breath as she was pulled out, back onto the sidewalk.

 “You weren’t there for movie night last night, and you weren’t answering your phone.” The taller of the two said, looking at Thomas with genuine concern. Carrie felt suddenly guilty for blowing them off…and then stupid as she hadn’t known it was happening in the first place…oh god this was getting complicated…

 “Are you okay? We’re just worried that’s all.” The smaller asked, with a similar look of concern.

 “Yeah…my…dudes…I am just exercising. Sorry for missing last night…I, err…lost my phone you see, and spent all night looking for it…” She cracked a smile and ran her hand through Thomas’ hair.

 The three stood in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes, with Carrie wondering what to do next.

 “Is it something to do with Virgil?” The taller one asked after a while, distinctly noticing the beads of sweat on her stolen forehead and her shaky hands.

 “You know about Virgil?” Carrie blurted out in surprise, unable to stop herself. Thomas’ friends shared a look of concern and confusion, but Carrie couldn’t help but smile as a bubble of hope formed in her stomach. “I...err...would you guys like to come in? I need to talk to you.”

~

 “Please don’t have me committed.” Carrie wrung her hands nervously, only really now seeing the danger of that possibility. Joan and Talyn stared at her with the same looks of confusion and concern that they had earlier.

 She had done her best to explain, and show her evidence (attempting to summon the sides, for one). Thomas had trusted these people with the knowledge of his side’s existence, they were her only hope.

 “A dead girl is possessing Thomas?” Talyn said carefully. Carrie flinched.

 “Gotta say dude, this seems a bit far-fetched, even in your crazy head.” Joan said, a little gentler. Carrie could see them ticking it all over in their heads.

 “I know it sounds crazy.” Carrie chewed her lip and crossed her legs. “But I just don’t know what else to do...I’m so worried about him...I’m so scared...” Carrie started to cry again, silently. She felt like she had done enough crying throughout this ordeal to fill a small lake.

 There was a small ‘pop’ and a sharp intake of breath.

 Carrie opened her watery eyes to see her Eeyore toy grasped in her hands. It surprised her so much that the water-works ceased.

 “I thought I dreamed that...” Carrie muttered, rubbing the old, thin material between her fingers.

 Joan and Talyn shared another look.

 “Thomas can only summon the sides of his personality, and occasionally they can bring more objects, like Roman and his sword.” Joan said quickly. Talyn gave a small shrug.

 “Maybe you are telling the truth.” They muttered quietly, not taking their eyes off the old battered toy.

 “What does this mean?” Carrie asked, trying to push away the small bubble of hope and determination that was rising in her chest.

 “Maybe...maybe you can get into your own mind, like Thomas does with his...”

 Carrie looked between Thomas’ friends, who were still looking very weirded out and unsure. The Eeyore toy in her hands grew a little warmer, comforting her and easing the shaking in her hands.

 “Okay.” Carrie said, taking a steadying breath. “Tell me how.”

~

Patton watched with tear-filled eyes as Deceit helped Roman off his bed, and had to fight the urge to whack the villains feet out from underneath him. He saw a breif glimpse of the Creative side as his feet touched the floor, but he almost immediately keeled over, his legs too weak to be of any use.

 “Cut the dramatics Princey.” Deceit sighed. Logan saw the black boot line up for a kick and closed his eyes just in time. He couldn’t block out the dull sound it made on impact with Roman’s torso, nor the distinct and sickening crack that came from one of Roman’s ribs.

 Virgil looked murderous and Logan caught his arm best he could in the cramped hiding spot, giving him a look that said _Wait, Roman has a plan._

 He hoped.

 “You’re going to have to help me into a chair or something.” Roman groaned, his mouth sounding full of what Logan guessed must be blood. “If you want me to do this quicker.”

 There was a long, tense moment of silence as Deceit considered the Fallen Prince, before picking him up and shoving him into the chair in the corner of the room. 

 “Look at you.” Deceit sneered, folding his arms and cocking his head. “You’re pathetic.”

 “That all you got?” Roman scoffed humourlessly.

 “I’m actually...just a little in awe.” Deceit admitted, searching Roman curiously. “I didn’t think we could actually die, but you’re having a good go at it.”

 Beside him, Virgil felt Logan tense.

 “Can we do this somewhere else?” Roman frowned, not liking that look. His vision was starting to swim, and there was a distinct buzzing in his ear. He had a vague theory playing across his mind, and he wanted to try start creating before Deceit realized it too.

 “What’s wrong?” Virgil mouthed to Logan. Logan was starting to look really panicked as he couldn’t get one thought out of his mind.

 “Hmmm.” Deceit said, his eyes narrowed. Logan could almost hear his brain ticking over. “No, the creative juice in this room is the strongest in the mindscape.”

 Deceit snapped his fingers, and he changed into Patton. Another snap and three more pairs of legs appeared.

 “Roman here is going to create a space where it will be easier to see the cracks, so we can hurry this along.” ‘Patton’ said to an exhausted looking Thomas.

 “He’s not looking so good...” Logan heard his imposter say in his voice.

 “His state already may hurry this along, without a strong creative side none of this can be maintained.” ‘Virgil’ said sadly.

 Roman squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think...he had to stall...

 “Actually, I think I have an idea.” ‘Patton’ said sadly.

 Roman felt his heart beat quicken...the way his fake Father figure was looking at him...he was sure he had formed the same theory.

 Underneath the bed, Virgil shot Logan a very panicked look. With a shaky hand, Logan reached over awkwardly and touched his forehead, silently pushing the information through.

 Virgil grew pale as he received the message.

  _Roman is dying, which is only possible if this is already starting to break down._

 Roman was the reason any of this was possible. The strength and passion of Thomas’ imagination was key in Logan’s Imagination Manifestation Theory. 

 Deceit’s snake-eye glinted for a moment behind Patton’s warm brown eye, as he reached the same conclusion.

 He summoned Roman’s sword and ran him through.


	26. Rapunzel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carrie confronts an uncomfortable truth. The Sides try to save Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, violence, dying, death mention, tears, pain, swears, attempted suicide mention

 Carrie lay back on the couch and tried to follow Joan’s instructions exactly. Talyn had put on low calming music and was busy drawing the curtains.

 “…So, if you’ve ever seen Sherlock, it’s kinda along the same lines.” Joan explained carefully, sitting on the ground next to the couch. “You have to literally construct a space within your mind that you can escape too.”

 Carrie frowned and shuffled a little, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to relax. She took a steadying breath and thought of her room at home.

 “Imagine every detail, build the room from the ground up.”

 Her bed in one corner…her overloaded desk in the other…

 “Imagine several more doors along one wall. Each of these represents a different part of your mind: one door for memories, one for emotions…things like that. Whatever feels right to you.”

 Memories were behind a red door. Emotions behind a blue one. Another random purple door popped up without her even thinking about it.

 Carrie lay there for ages, constructing every detail of the rooms and really feeling her way around her mind.

 “You’re doing really well.” Joan said, after what felt like hours. “Now it’s time to try and retreat there entirely, out of Thomas’ body.” Their voice was gentle, but firm. Carrie swallowed, but nodded.

 “Okay.” She muttered. Carrie began constructing herself there, focusing clearly on how she would fit in this space, when something strange started to happen. “Wait…”

 “You can do it.” Talyn said encouragingly. Carrie just frowned harder as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

 “There’s…there’s a hole in the wall behind me.” She was shocked that she hadn’t seen it before. The wall looked like it emptied into a void full of…nothing. Breath-taking abyss. Peace.

 Her hand rose up to touch it, craving its safety, its promised solitude, its inherent relief.

 She jerked her hand back like it had been shocked and gasped sharply as an image flashed across her mind…

  _Carrie had been crying._

_She had failed something._

_She was running home with her tail between her legs._

_Rounding each corner faster and faster…_

“Someone is…screaming…” Carrie muttered, trying to pinpoint the high-pitched noise that seemed to have started.

 “Screaming?” Joan asked warily.

 Carrie pushed the grim memory away just before she could see herself yanking the wheel, feeling sick. She looked around in her mind palace once more, and for the first time noticed how grey and drab it all seemed. The wall with the hole was spreading before her eyes, bits flaking off and flying away. She turned to her memories door and bit her lip, wanting more than anything else to run in there and lock the door. Surround herself with the comfortably numb security of the past…before she had decided to throw it all away...

  _Stupid. Dumb. Reckless...Deliberate? The crash was her fault._

 The screaming grew louder.

 “Joan…she’s crying…” Someone said, Carrie couldn’t tell who.

 “Open your eyes…Carrie open your eyes…”

 Carrie turned, and finally started to comprehend the hand she had been dealt.   

 The screaming was coming from the purple door.

 This wasn’t Heaven or Hell. It was Purgatory.

 The abyss was beckoning behind her. Carrie had a feeling it would take her home.

 Carrie looked at her hands…really concentrated on them…they swam a little under her scrutiny.

  _Not real_.

 She took a step towards the purple door.

 Purgatory…time to pay her due.

~

 That moment was so full, it seemed to last a lifetime. It moved in slow motion, but so much happened that it made Roman’s head swim…

 Or maybe it was the sword sticking out of his chest.

 Several things happened at once, but Roman only had eyes for the man at the hilt of his beloved sword.

 There was screaming. His bed was in pieces all over his room, a dark pulse of energy having burst forth from Virgil in his panic. The real Logan and Patton had been thrown back by this display also but seemed conscious. Virgil stood in the rubble, panting hard. Roman couldn’t connect the dots exactly, all he could focus on was the burning pain in his chest and the way he felt like going to sleep…

 “ ** _Thomas get out of here._** ” Virgil screamed, in his unholy voice. Thomas, who looked beyond utterly confused, scared and hurt, obeyed instantly – closing his eyes and sinking out…

 “What did you do?!” Apathy hissed, changing back into his classic form.

 “Roman was DYING! Actually DYING! He was vulnerable and without him the connection will break down regardless! We don’t have to faff about with Thomas!” Deceit shrugged. He began to twist the sword buried in the Prince’s chest before he was tackled by the raging force that was Patton.

 Glasses blown away by Virgil’s blast, cardigan long gone, the man in the polo shirt screamed and punched Deceit in his borrowed face. Watching Patton fight his double was almost such an odd sight that Greed didn’t see Logan coming for him until he also was on the ground and receiving a few choice blows.

 Apathy just put his hands up when Virgil turned to look at him.

 Roman chuckled a little as his vision filled with stars. His family…they had won…they had saved Thomas…

 Logan had Greed and Apathy tied together in one corner, then turned to aid Patton in his struggle with Deceit who had by now returned to his dapper form.

 Roman tried to stand. He wanted to look dignified, after all.

 He just keeled over on his side, but someone managed to catch him and lower him to the ground gently.

 “SHIT…SHIT…RO NO!” Someone sobbed. Roman smiled blearily back at the dark blob above him.

 “Virgil, stop!” Another said. “You can’t remove the sword, it’s holding everything together for the moment…just put pressure on it.”

 “Son?”

 It was quiet, measured. Roman frowned. Why did these people sound so…god what was the word for it?

 “Did we win?” Roman looked around at the three-people cradling him. Logan grimaced and used a spare cloth to wipe some of the blood away that was leaking from Roman’s mouth.

 “Yeah, kiddo. We won. You won. It’s all going to be okay…”

 “Oohhh PATTON’S LYING!” Deceit called, bitterly laughing from his spot with his accomplices. Patton raised his hand sharply and they disappeared.

 “M’sorry.” Roman started coughing and Logan lifted him slightly, so he could rub his back.

 “You’re so stupid…”

 “Virgil.”

 “NO! WHY…I DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Virgil yelled in frustration. “WE’RE A TEAM AND YOU HAD TO DITCH AND BE THE FUCKING HERO.”

 “I was already bad.” Roman closed his eyes in a grimace.

 “What…what do you mean?”

 “Carrie…” Logan muttered. “Carrie was starting to see through Roman’s creations and imagery. She spent the most time in your room, besides her own…which you created in the first place…all those nights you spent in Carrie’s room too…”

 “My room didn’t feel good.” Roman nodded, not really able to string his thoughts together coherently and sending himself into another blood-splattering coughing fit.

 “That doesn’t matter now.” Patton cooed, brushing Roman’s hair out of his eyes. It was a peaceful act, but it made Roman start to feel how vulnerable he was.

 He let a few tears slide out of his eyes, and he dimly registered Logan getting up for the first aid kit and to go find a book on the topic.

 Forever the nerd.

 Roman laughed.

 “I think I see an angel…” He muttered, staring blindly upwards.

 Virgil bit back a comment on the dramatics. If Roman would live…he would never comment on his dramatics again…

 Roman reached up to try and grab the hand stretching down towards him.

 “What are you doing?” Patton sounded less calm now.

 “She’s not Alice.” Roman muttered.

 There were hurried footsteps as Logan returned with the first aid kit, his glasses fogged and cheeks red from his own tears.

 “He’s…he’s actually…” Virgil sounded like he was in shock.

 “Roman look at me.” Logan said, gripping a pair of scissors nervously. “You guys hold him down, I have to cut his shirt away.”

 Someone grabbed his elevated arm and Roman whined softly.

 “No, she’s going to help me…”

 “Ro, please…” Someone tearfully pleaded, keeping his arm firmly at his side as he tried to struggle.

 “I’ve nearly got it…okay let go…” Logan pulled away the front of Prince’s ruined shirt and sash, leaving the sword sticking out just above his stomach. “Put pressure around the wound but don’t bump the sword…”

 “I love you guys.” Roman lifted his arm again with the last of his strength and gripped the hand. It was warm and smooth under his calloused grip, and he let his arm slacken in her embrace.

 “RO!? LOGAN WHAT’S HAPPENING???”

 “I don’t…I don’t KNOW!?” Logan sobbed.

 “She’s not Alice.” Roman repeated, a little firmer, as the warmth in his hand started to spread down his arm. “She’s Rapunzel.”

 There was a blinding flash of white light that made Logan, Virgil and Patton scramble back from the Prince.

 When it faded, the Prince was lying there alone, shirt still tattered, torso still bloody, but the sword plainly absent from his chest.


	27. Second-Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Second-Chances

 Logan recovered from the shock first and scrambled over, checking Roman’s vital signs.

 “He’s…he’s fine…how…what?” Logan wrung his hands, trying to wrap his head around the whole thing. He barely registered Patton collapsing beside him and pulling an unconscious Roman into a tight hug, as he sobbed into his shoulder.

 Virgil didn’t approach.

 “Rapunzel…” Virgil muttered, feeling exhausted. “He always called Carrie _Rapunzel_ …”

 Patton and Logan shared a look, as they each saw the crux of the movie flash before their eyes.

 “She’s gone, isn’t she?”

 Logan felt his bottom lip quiver. Patton clung even tighter to Roman.

 Virgil finally allowed himself to breathe. He relaxed by a fraction, then crashed down on the floor next to his family.

 He searched his feelings, looked within himself.

 He felt…calmer. For the first time in a long time.

 “Yeah. She’s gone.” He hugged his knees and grappled with everything they just about lost.

 No one felt like talking. They just all sat in the chaos that was Roman’s room, each grappling with everything that had happened.

 “…guys…” Roman grunted, after a long time. He shifted a little and opened his eyes.

 “Woah…did I miss the funeral?” He blinked, looking around at the pale morose faces looking at him with relief and…a little caution? After a moment, it all came flooding back to him. He sat up and gasped, feeling his chest with his hands, looking for the wound frantically with panic on his face.

 Patton grabbed him again and pulled him into another hug, Roman abruptly became still in the embrace, before hugging back warmly, burying his face into the safety of Patton’s arms.

~

 “…Joan nearly got her to move on?” Logan repeated, fearing where this was going. The four sides had appeared to Thomas in the real world as soon as they felt Roman was able. The Prince was in pretty good shape considering he had briefly become a royal pin-cushion. “What stopped her?”

 Thomas shook his head. He was exhausted himself and was lying down on the couch with his phone in his hand open on the New Zealand news. He continued to refresh every minute or so, but so far, he had received no sign of Carrie. “Joan said that Carrie said she heard screaming…and then my body kind of just went limp for a bit…then I woke up in it…” He put his hand over his face, trying to block out the tornado of emotions and thoughts that were raging in his mind.

 “She’s gone now anyway.” Virgil muttered from his spot on the stairs.

 “Where are…the others?” Thomas managed eventually.

 “I’ve locked them away again.” Patton bit his lip. “They won’t be as strong now that your mind should be in better order without her…and the fact you’ve chosen to stay true to yourself.”

 “What exactly did you see again, Roman?” Thomas asked gently. Roman pursed his lips.

 “A hand was reaching down…I’m still not entirely sure what was going on…I mean gimme a break I was in the middle of dying, you know?” He tried to crack a smile, but no one laughed. Too soon, he supposed. “I’m sure it was Carrie…I felt a heat in her hand that I usually feel when I’m creating something. I just don’t exactly know how she managed to get back into the mindscape, or how she healed me.”

 “Well, we’re lucky in any case that she did.” Patton said firmly, crossing his arms.

 “Though arguably she was the cause in your weakened state in the first place which allowed the others to hurt you so badly in the first place…” Logan started to theorise, before Virgil shot him a glare.

 “What if this happens again?” Thomas whispered, refreshing his phone again.

 Logan found he didn’t have an answer.

 “We help them move on.” Roman croaked, looking away with guilt on his face. “In the meantime, I think we should appreciate what we have…while we have it.”

 There was much more behind the Prince’s words that he needed to articulate. Thomas found himself nodding.

 They had been given a second-chance, and a new appreciation of life.

 

~

~

~

~

_Breaking News: Missing Woman Found_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This story blew into something much bigger than I really intended or dreamed at the beginning, but I’ve enjoyed it immensely. I put a lot of myself in Carrie so this is obviously a really personal project for me. Thank you for all the support and kind words of encouragement!
> 
> I’ve left the end pretty open, as I think I will revisit this world in the future. There are still some big questions to answer and explore which didn’t really get a chance because of the way this story progressed. 
> 
> But for now, this is where we leave them! 
> 
> Much love, 
> 
> Kia Kaha,
> 
> -Sammy

**Author's Note:**

> Look who's back...back again! Honestly I couldn't work on my own stuff for more than a week before wanting to do another Sanders Sides fic! It probably won't be as long as T,T&T, but I'm going to have some fun with this!  
> Check me out on Tumblr here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sammy-writes-stuff


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